


Asymmetry

by Somniloquence



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Bill Cipher Being Bill Cipher, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Human Bill Cipher, Insomnia, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Phobias, Slow Burn, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-03-01 05:15:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 14
Words: 53,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13287768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somniloquence/pseuds/Somniloquence
Summary: Bill Cipher is angry. No matter what, the clock is ticking down towards his inescapable punishment. But then he's offered a possible compromise. Certain his can come out on top he takes it.





	1. Inescapable Fate

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there. So this is my first time ever doing something like this ever. I'm super nervous and scared but I hope anyone who reads this enjoys it even a little bit and thanks so much for reading if you do. This first chapter isn't the most exciting thing ever, it's just a lot of set up for the actual story. I've got a general plan for this story but I'm open to any suggestions for improvement/ anything you think I should add, just try to be nice if you do have suggestions. Thank you.

Bill glared into the swirling void of the nightmare realm as he sorted through the infinite timelines of the multiverse trying to find one that pleased him. After viewing what felt like the millionth timeline in which the damned Pines twins once again ended his Weirdmageddon he finally cracked and suddenly screamed in frustration and turning a bright angry red. He let loose a blast of energy in a random direction tearing apart some floating asteroids in the distance.

                “W̷̷̨H̵͢͝Y̷̨͝͝!” He boomed, his voice distorting from the pure rage that saturated it. Every plan, every action, no matter what he did it seemed as if his defeat was inevitable. Even killing the entire Pines family once the rip was formed would only result in the rest of the town coming together to somehow destroy him. It was infuriating. And what’s more on top of that he was running out of time. The events that would end in the opening of the rift had already been set in motion, nothing capable of stopping them now. It was now or never, and Bill was not going to accept being stuck in his own decaying dimension.

But then what other option did he have then? Make his grand entrance so that he could be defeated? Let the Pines either kill him or grovel to the damn frilled bastard to change him into something radically different to repent for things he didn’t feel a shred of guilt for?

No, none of those options appealed to him. So he just went back to letting out angry bursts of energy in random directions trying to calm himself instead. A few wayward screams managed to bring him a laugh, his red appearance finally starting to fade down back to yellow. But as his anger began to abate that allowed for the despair to creep into the void the anger left. He looked into the void dejectedly. Maybe he should just have his fun and let the Pines kill him at the end of it. Then at least he could spite the Axolotl.

_Bill Cipher._

“W̫̣H̢͕̟̭A̖͔̣̹̺T̪̲̼͠ ̞̻͔̜̯͖͞D̳͠Ơ̹͈̙̤̩͔̟ ̰̘̯͙̲͓͠Y̴̮̤̟̖͚̥ͅO̠U ̹͓̩͚̰W͟A̧N̶T?̜͈͔̣͖͔” The triangle boomed in his distorted voice as he turned black.

_To talk, that is all Cipher. And perhaps if you are interested, we can come to an agreement. Are my plans for you really so unbearable for you that you would rather willingly die than simply repent?_

“Ỵ̵̰̰E̳̹S̰.̰̰̯̫͎͡” He growled out. “Y̛͝o̷̢̡u͜ ͘͏w̧a̢ņ̸͝t̷҉̧ ̢t̡̛͜o̵͡ ̡͡t͘͠a͏̷ķ̛ȩ̸ ͡͠e̡̢v͜͢e̢͜r͏̶yţ͜͜h̷͞i̢n̵̴g͜͏̡ ̴̶t̷̨h̨a҉̛t͡ ̷̸m̴̡͡a҉k̢e͏̨s͘̕ ̶me̛̛̕ ҉͞m̴̢e̷̛͢ an̡d̵ ̵̸̡d̶̶e͢st̡͜r̷o̸͝y̷͢͠ ̵̸it͟!̶͡ ͝W͠h̛o̢ ͟͞w͘ouldn’t ̶̷b̢e̛͝ ag͝͡a͏̶i̴̡͘ns͝t̢͝ ̨͘t̵͡h̵͢҉ą͝t͟ ̡h͠u͢͏h?̴̵ B̕u̕t҉ I̶͡ ҉̴̴g͘e̡t̨ i̶̴t̴̸̨,̧͜ ͝҉y͞o҉u̷’̡͞r͜͝e҉̢̨ t̴͏h̵҉e͏̶ ̵s̵̨l͡i̢͜m̸y̡͜ ̸̨g̨o͘͘͞d҉̧ ̸͟͢i̷̢n͟ ̡̨c̨̛͟h҉͞a̶͜r̷͟͠ge,̵ ̵̕͡s̨̧̛ǫ̛ ̧y̧o̸͘u̴ ̴̡t͞h͟͏҉i͝nk҉͜ ev͝e͝r͠yt̸͝h̡in̛͏̷g ҉̵ş̡̛h̨҉o͏̷̢u̸l̴d̢̢ j̴͘u̕͜҉s͘͢t̨ ͢b̷̢͠o͘w͢ ̨d͏͏̕o̵͝͡w̧n͝͠ ̸͏an͏̧ḑ͘͞ ̴͟b̕e̶n̵͘d̕ ͘t҉ǫ̶͡ ̵͡y̶͜ơu̶r w̷͝il͢l̸͜,҉͟͏ ͠r̛͡i̧͟͞g͟͞h̛t͝͠?͘͟͞ ̢͝H̷̸A͏͏!̷̧͜”̧͠ ͏̢  
͜͝

_You never have been one to listen to reason. As you are now you can never repent or come to understand why it is necessary. Your twisted pride and insanity will never allow it. However; I love all of creation Cipher, including you. You have strayed from the path of good but that does not mean you cannot be redeemed. This is all I desire to do for you Cipher. You cannot lie to me, you are unhappy._

Bill remained silent. Bitterness and hatred had permeated every inch of him and he knew that nothing he said would really change anything. The damn goody-three-frills would have his way whether Bill liked it or not, so he might as well go with plan A, go down in a blaze of glory. No point in arguing. He heard a sigh.

_Cipher, listen, I want to offer you a compromise._

“What?” Bill said dumbly, regaining his yellow appearance. Now this was a surprise.

_You think I have no respect for you and everything you think makes you who you are. But that is simply untrue. I’ll offer you a compromise of sorts. You can either go about as the timelines you viewed have shown and either die or be reformed as I have it planned, or you can put yourself at the mercy of the Pines family while temporarily transformed into a new form. While in this form if you can pass several trials, I will allow you to return to your current form and do as you please. Of course, your personality and general self will be preserved, but your memories and power will be locked up to prevent you from cheating._

“If I manage to do this I can do anything I want? Even take over that puny dimension?” he said, his hand to his eye in thought. Well this certainly was a new option. “What’s the catch Frills?”

_No catch Cipher. You do not even need to decide at this moment. From the time the rift opens you will have 72 hours. In that time make your decision. Either convince the Pines to take you in, die at their hands, or invoke my name. I leave the choice entirely to you. Ah, and one more thing._

“Yes?”

_If you take the compromise you must convince both of the Pines twins to remain in Gravity Falls with you, as you’ll still be unable to leave._

Bill groaned. Really? Even in whatever gross form he’d be turned into he’s _still_ be stuck in that damned backwater town?

“Fiiiine. Whatever. Go away!” He shouted. He had much to consider.

_As you wish Cipher. I genuinely hope you do not choose to simply die out of spite towards me. See you soon._

Bill settled down, summoning a portal to watch Gravity Falls. Now that he had a third option he wanted to review everything he could think about the small town and it’s sleeping secrets. The damn Know-it-all had made him uncertain and he hated uncertainty more than anything. But perhaps… just maybe? The Axolotl didn’t say anything about setting some things in his favor before the test began. If he could just figure out a way to anchor some of his knowledge and power in the human’s world before being changed into whatever, just maybe he could give himself an advantage. His eye curled upward in it’s best semblance of a smile.

This was gonna be fun.

~

“Things change… summer ends.”

He knew when he had said it that it was a harsh reality, that Mabel wouldn’t like it, but it was the truth. It was only as she ripped away from him and ran out the door that Dipper felt the regret clamp down on his heart painfully.

“Mabel wait! I didn’t mean it like that!” he shouted after her. “Mabel come back!”

He stared after her as she disappeared down the stairs and around the corner. The slam of the door behind her brought an even heavier weight to his heart. He hung his head in sadness. This wasn’t fair, he loved his sister, she was his other half. But it also wasn’t fair that he had to sacrifice everything for her. He’d been doing it the entire summer. Why’d it have to be like this? Why did she always have to get her way or throw a fit about it?

                But at the same time he felt guilt crash into him. He shouldn’t think like that. She was his sister, his best friend in the whole world. Of course she didn’t want to be away from him, and he didn’t want to either. Ford’s comments at the UFO had been laced with some of his own personal feelings towards Stan and Dipper knew it. He never felt like Mabel was ever holding him back, not once. There were so many times that she had been the only thing keeping him going. She had saved him from Bill for god’s sake, and set up the barrier protecting the house. Ford was grossly underestimating her, but that didn’t mean this wasn’t a great opportunity for Dipper. He just wished he could have some way to have them both. As it stood though he knew it would be an impossibility. Maybe he should just turn Ford down, as much as that hurt him to think about.

                Dipper was drawn out of his head by a call from downstairs. It must have been Ford calling him to seal the rift. He grabbed his bag and slowly began trekking down to the basement. As he boarded the elevator he kept his eyes downcast, still conflicted inside over his sister.

                His downcast eyes didn’t escape Ford as he exited the elevator dragging the bag behind him.

                “Let me guess, Mabel didn’t take it well.” His grunkle said, obvious sympathy on his face. While his relationship with Stanley may not have been great, he couldn’t help but admire how close his grand niece and nephew were. Not to mention that he had come to see himself in Dipper. He didn’t enjoy seeing that bright intelligent face drawn down with sadness.

                “I- I don’t know. Maybe I’m making the wrong decision.” Dipper said, the uncertainty in his voice palpable. “I need to think about this…”

                Ford watched as he cast his eyes down again. He wished he had some way to cheer the kid up, but he wasn’t very good at that and he knew it. Besides something else was in the forefront of his mind. It wasn’t solving Dipper’s problem, but at least it could distract him a little bit.

                “Dipper right now we need to focus on the mission.” Ford said, walking over to his nephew. He did his best to put on a smile and sound cheerful. This should be a happy moment, they were about to save the world from Bill. He would try and help mend things between the twins later, but for now this was an achievement. 30 years of fighting alone and at last he had found a kindred spirit to help him achieve and share in this victory. “Now come on! I’ve got the glue, hand me the rift and let’s make history!”

                Dipper gave him a small smile back. He could tell what Ford was trying to do and while it didn’t ease his mind any, he appreciated the gesture. He stuck his hand into the bag, digging around for the rift before grabbing something and pulling it out without looking. When he saw the party invitation in his hand his smile instantly disappeared from his face.

                “What!?” He nearly screamed. “Oh no! The rift!”

~

                “It’s not fair… I just wish summer could last forever.” Mabel said curling up into sweater town.

                The girl could barely believe how badly her day had gone. Between seeing a preview of how bad high school would be to finding out her best friends wouldn’t be around to celebrate, Dipper trying to leave her had been the absolute last straw. Of all the people she knew here in the Falls, she trusted him the most. Sure he was nerdy and a ball of anxiety but he had done nothing but try to help her have a great summer. Moments replayed in her head of all the selfish things she had asked of him, the worst being when she blew him off for a crush only for him to be possessed by Bill. Dipper still woke up screaming from nightmares about it and she had a feeling he wouldn’t ever really be over it. She knew that she had not been a model sister. But even so, she didn’t expect her twin to just abandon her.

                The thought made her sob a little and she would have probably gone into full crying had it not been for a voice.

                “That might be possible.”

                “Sweater town is not accepting incoming calls right now.” She said curling up tighter.

                “Ma-Ma-Mabel it’s me.” A stuttering voice called.

                “What? Who said that?” She peaked out of her sweater looking around.

                “I- I can help.” The voice was oddly familiar.

                Suddenly a man appeared from the trees in front of her twisting a watch to turn off his camouflage. She instantly recognized the chubby man in the jumpsuit and goggles. He was giving her a gentle smile.

                “The… Time travel guy? What are you doing here?” She asked confused. The last time she had seen him she and Dipper had defeated him and restored his position with a time wish. She thought for sure that would be the last that she ever saw of him. What was he doing here now?

                “Y-you said you don’t want summer to end right? Di-did I hear that right?”

                “Yeeah… Why are you asking?” she said, the trepidation in her voice undeniable. Every time this guy showed up everything went crazy. Her caution was well justified.

                “Look maybe it’s against the rules but you once did a favor for me so I thought I could help you out. It’s called a time bubble, prevents time from going forward. Summer in Gravity Falls can last as long as you want it to.”

                Mabel sniffled and wiped tears that stubbornly welled up in her eyes.

                “R-really? How does it work?”

                “I just need you to get a little gizmo for me from your Uncle. Something small, h-he won’t even know it’s missing.”

                “Huh maybe dipper has something like that in his nerd bag?”

                She began digging through the bag brushing aside chewed pens and notebooks. Really Dipper needed to cut that habit out or he was going to get ink poisoning one day. Finally she saw something that looked like a snow globe. Pulling it out she saw a black substance float inside of it, twisting and twirling as stars and galaxies danced within it’s dark mass.

                “Huh, that’s… odd. This it?” she said holding it out.

                “Yes that’s it! J-just hand it over and I’ll do my thing. Unless you’re ready to leave Gravity Falls.”

                “Just as little more summer…” she said, handing it over. Sadness bit at her heart as she did so. Just a little more summer with Dipper and her grunkles. A little more time with her friends and the strange wonderful town of Gravity Falls. That wasn’t too much to ask right? Right?

                But the moment the other held it one word took away all her hopes at once. One careless word said as though you accidentally dropped a piece of garbage on the ground.

                “Oops!”               

                “What!?” She shouted gawking as the man slammed his foot on top of the already broken shards, laughing. He moved to remove his goggles, the unmistakable eyes of Bill Cipher staring back at her. Terror spread to every inch of her. What had she done!?

                “Oh no! Wait, wait, wait!” She cried.

                _SNAP._

                She instantly felt a heaviness overtake her and begin to pull her into sleep as her mind cried that this was all a mistake, she wanted to take it back. But even as she wished that with all her heart she knew no wish would fix this.

                _Things change, summer ends._

                Her eyes closed, and darkness overtook her.


	2. Demons, deals, and divides

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This didn't turn out the greatest I feel. It was really hard for me to write this for some reason but I feel it's better to push it out now than just sit on it forever. So here it is, Dipper makes a deal.
> 
> Also thank you to everyone for comments, kudos and the like. I love you all and don't deserve them.

The look on Shooting Star’s face as she passed out brought unbridled joy to Bill. He laughed uncontrollably as he pulled out of Blendin’s body, the skin puppet dropping to the ground, and felt himself become anchored to this reality. It was a bit odd at first, as he felt the mindscape and reality try to pull him back and forth between them. But finally, he settled into reality as the gate fully opened.

“AT LAST! AT LONG, LONG LAST! The gate between worlds has finally opened!” He shouted rising higher into the air. He once again fell into a fit of laughter as the sky began to split open above him. Oh, it was _so_ beautiful. Every inch of him felt like it was vibrating with excitement. He wanted so badly to burst this world at the seams and let loose his fun. But alas, such fun would need to wait a little longer. He steadied himself just above the treetops and stared over them in the direction of the Mystery Shack.

“Now then Shooting Star…” he said adjusting his bow tie and beginning to levitate the girl upwards towards him. Once she was within his reach he squished her cheeks together between his fingers, pinching the warm flesh. “We’ve got a deal to go make and you’re the most important part. Isn’t that exciting!? I can hardly wait to see ol’ Sixer’s face, or better yet Pine Tree’s! Oh, he’s going to just have a panic attack the second his sees you. It’ll be cute.                There’s no way they can say no to a deal, right?”

He grabbed her jaw and moved it like she was talking while he put on a terrible imitation of Mabel’s voice, “Why yes Bill, you’re absolutely right Bill!” He snickered at his own actions before finally snapping his fingers, storing the girl in a pocket dimension for when he needed her. “Alright enough playing, time to go talk to the two most idiotic smart people in the world.”

In a burst of bright blue flame he vanished.

~

The sky had become a multicolored nightmare of yellows, greens, and reds, reality leaking upwards into the rift that tore it asunder. Dipper and Ford stared up at it in horror and defeat. It was too late. Weirdmaggedon had begun.

"So this is how the world ends,” Ford said soft, “Not with a bang but a booboo…” He circled his finger beside his head to indicate crazy. The gesture didn’t even begin to describe the other feelings that churned in his gut. The culmination of years of mistakes hung in the sky above him and if he didn’t need to be strong, to somehow try to save the world, he’d probably have just fallen to his knees there and cried. His mind raced as he contemplated his options. The quantum destabilizer only had one shot left. He wasn’t sure if that would be enough. If it wasn’t what else could they do?

Ford was snapped out of his reveries by a sharp gasp from Dipper. He turned his gaze from the sky towards Dipper. The boy was pointed in the direction of forest to their side at Ford quizzical look. Quickly shifting his sight there he saw a quick flash of yellow. A cold sweat instantly washed over him. It couldn’t be. Why would he come here of all places first?

“Great Uncle Ford.” Dipper said nervously beside him. “You don’t think that’s…”

“Start backing up towards the house.” Ford said stepping in front of his nephew.

With Dipper’s first step back, the woods exploded with laughter from all directions. There was no mistaking the high-pitched echoing voice. The voice had haunted Ford for decades by this point and was a constant fixture in Dipper’s nightmares.

“Bill show yourself!” Ford shouted.

“Awww, did you miss me Fordsy?” the voice echoed around them. “Admit it, you missed me!”

“Like hell I did!” Ford shouted. His bravado was interrupted though with the sound of sigh. He raised his eyebrow. Did Bill just sigh?

“Come on, Sixer, learn to take a joke.”

Ford cringed and did his best to look behind him, trying to see if Dipper was close to the Shack. If he could just stall and make sure Dipper was safe…

“You’re not clever Ford. Pine Tree one more step and I’ll disassemble your molecules.” Bill’s voice was dangerously even as he threw his threat out.

Dipper nearly tripped over himself at suddenly being addressed. He had been so scared he had barely made any progress. Cursing his fright, he began looking around trying to find Bill. Suddenly he felt a pressure on his back as what felt like a hand pushed him forward hard. He screamed as he was shoved down. He and Ford both turned their heads to look behind them. And there he was. Bill. The triangle simply floated there, staring at the two. Dipper almost screamed again as two strong hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back. But to his great relief it had only been his uncle. Ford pushed him behind him again, hand going into his coat to pull out his gun.

“That’s cute Sixer. You know you can’t protect him, right? Or much of anything for that matter. That little toy you’re about to pull out won’t do anything.” Bill chuckled.

“What do you want Bill?” Ford growled.

“What makes you think I want anything huh?” Bill said, the amusement clear in his voice.

“You haven’t obliterated us yet, so obviously you’re not just here to kill us. Tell me what you want, now!”

“Well it seems you aren’t a lost cause after all Sixer!” Bill said. As Ford simply glared at him in response, he began to examine his fingers as if he were inspecting nonexistent nails. “Well Sixer, you see, I’ve got a little bit of a problem.”

He snapped his fingers, an odd ornate mirror appearing beside him. The rim of silver featured various triangles and eyes amongst odd twisting vines with thorns, the glass of the mirror silvery and spotless. For a moment it was simply a mirror before images began to form and play out like a movie on it’s surface. Dipper running for his life from monsters, Mabel in some odd fantasy land, the Mystery Shack made into some bizarre robot, and finally Ford in his brother’s clothes, pointing a memory gun at Stan’s head. The two watched the little clips, absolutely confused.

“No matter what I do, your miserable little family will A͠L̵͟W̨͢͞A҉̶Y̶͘͟Ş̵̕ defeat me.” He turned bright red with the shift in his voice but quickly shifted back. “As I’m sure you can imagine that makes me extremely unhappy. So, I’d like to make a deal.”

“Ha! What makes you think we’ll make a deal with you if no matter what we’ll defeat you, you monster!?” Ford said, confidence beginning to overturn fear. For the first time in almost 30 years he felt a sense of overwhelming joy at Bill’s admission. He was going to save the world. He carefully kept his face even, though, knowing that Bill probably had some trick up his sleeve.

“Oh Fordsy, you’re smarter than that. Just because you’ll win…” Another snap of the fingers, bright blue flames suddenly burning beside him, “Doesn’t mean that I can’t make that win as bitter for you as possible.”

“MABEL!”

The two gawked at her as she floated beside Bill. Dipper choked back tears. He had been worrying about her ever since he saw the sky crack and had wanted to run and go find her all this time. Seeing her asleep, completely unaware of the danger, made Dipper that much more afraid. But it wasn’t just fear. No, a burning anger welled up inside of him. He had to protect her, he wasn’t going to let their last conversation be a fight.

“GIVE HER BACK BILL!” Dipper shouted, pushing past Ford as the man tried to hold him back.

“Ah, ah, ah, Pine Tree.” Bill said, joining his thumb and finger together. “Wouldn’t want Shooting Star to burn out would you?”

Dipper froze at that. “Y-you wouldn’t.” he stuttered out.

“Oh, Pine Tree you know I would.” Bill purred. “Now, unless you want to lose your sister, be a good boy and stand beside your stupid uncle while I finish talking.”

“Please Bill, don’t hurt her.” Ford said, his earlier confidence broken.

Bill ignored him as he resumed, “So you’re either going to take my deal or I’m going to kill as many of your friends and family as I can before going out in a blaze of glory.”

“What do you want? Anything, please, just don’t hurt Mabel!” Dipper shouted.

Bill and Ford both looked at the kid in surprise. Bill had expected him to be meeker, just a bystander in the proceedings. He felt a flicker of interest, but pushed it aside for now.

“Good to see at least one of you can be reasonable. I must say though, I’m surprised Pine Tree.” He chuckled. “72 hours from now, I will either die or get changed into what I presume will be one of you disgusting human meatsacks. I’m even going to lose my damn memories.” He glared at the ground, seething in his hatred for his situation. “In light of this, I’ll need somewhere to stay, and I’ve decided it gets to be you weirdos! Won’t that be fun? You should feel honored.”

Ford scoffed. “And what do we get in return for putting up with you?”

“Well for one, I’ll close the rift and not destroy your dimension. But I’ll even sweeten the deal. I’ll never harm you or your family intentionally in any way I can think of ever again. Including asking someone else to do it. You and your world will be safe from me and I get to remain myself and not die. I think that’s a pretty nice deal, don’t you? Oh, almost forgot, both of you sets of twins must stay here while the deals active. No leaving.”

Ford looked away from Bill’s now unreadable expression as his mind raced. He had an awful sense of dread that this was still a bad deal. No matter what, Bill always found a way to twist words and lie to get what he wanted.

Bill put his hand out, igniting it in his blue flames. “Do we have a deal?”

Those words drew Ford out of his thoughts again. Just as he was about to say something though he was cut off. He hadn’t noticed his nephew stepping forward.

“Deal.” Dipper said firmly, about to take Bill’s hand.

“N-no Dipper, what are you doing?!” Ford shouted as he started to run forward. Just as he was about to touch Dipper some force knocked him back. “You have no clue if he’s lying or not!”

“I know, great uncle Ford, but I can’t let him hurt Mabel. I’m sorry.”

“Let the kid make his own decisions Sixer.” Bill said, his eye smiling. “Now then Pine Tree…”

Dipper nodded, taking Bill’s hand and shaking. The blue flames spread, licking at his hand and up his wrist. The deal was sealed.

“This is gonna hurt Pine Tree, sorry.”

“Wha-“

Suddenly his left wrist began to burn, more painful than anything he had ever felt before. He felt a scream escape his throat as he screwed his eyes shut tightly. ‘ _God, it hurt_ s. _It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!’_ his mind screamed at him. He thought he heard Ford screaming as well, but as the pain burned through him he couldn’t be sure. He felt himself fall to the ground, curling up in a fetal position and holding his left arm closer to his chest, and feared he’d lose consciousness when the burning pain started to calm down. He let out heavy unsteady breaths as the pain slowly ebbed away. Finally, he slowly opened his eyes, the world feeling too bright all of a sudden. He was dimly aware of his uncle crumpled on the ground like he was, but his first concern turned to his arm as he shakily brought it into his vision. On his wrist was an angry red brand, the image of Bill and his wheel burned into his skin.

“W-w-what t-the hell B-bill.” Dipper stuttered out. “I t-thought you s-s-said you w-wouldn’t h-hurt any of us.”

“I know I know, relax Pine Tree. I didn’t want to but it’s part of the deal. You have to have that mark so you can’t leave. All of you have it now. Well yours is kind of special since you made the actual deal.”

“I h-hate you.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever you say kid. Anyways, I guess now I’ll uphold my end.”  Bill snapped his fingers. There was an odd wailing noise for a moment as the sky stitched back together and returned to it’s natural hue. Bill watched on miserably, knowing there was no turning back now. He couldn’t help himself as a long sigh escaped him.  He silently lamented the death of his fun, but assured himself it would be worth it once he had won.

  
                “Well there you go Pine Tree, I did my part.” He let Mabel float down and land softly beside her brother. “Be a lamb for me and take down that stupid barrier you put up before I come _home_ , alright?” He put hard emphasis on the word home as he said it.

“Wha? where are you going?” Dipper said, sitting up. He was beginning to feel less shaky now and his words were more steady.

“That’s none of your business Pine Tree.” Bill said flatly. “Don’t worry, it’s not anything bad. Just going to enjoy the precious little time I have left as my great self.”

If Dipper didn’t know better, he would have said that the last words were said with a heavy sadness. But this was Bill, there was no way anything the demon said was simple or straightforward. With a snap the demon disappeared again, and it was like nothing had even happened. For a moment he tried to pretend like it was all a dream but the mark staring up at him on his wrist refused to let him. With a sigh he turned his gaze to Mabel and his now recovering uncle.

He hoped dearly that he had made the right decision.


	3. A tangled web

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't know I had an entire chapter in me today after it took me so long to write the last one, but here you go. Fueled by copious amounts of green tea and chocolate. Also sorry my writing is always so angst heavy. Maybe someday that will change. Probably not... >.> Will probably be at least a week before I manage another, between work and school. But yeah enjoy! Love to all for any kudos and comments, you're the best.

A heavy silence hung over Dipper and Ford as the two sat in the living room of the Mystery Shack. Neither had spoken even once since finally pulling themselves up and taking a still sleeping Mabel back inside with them. Ford had laid her gently on the couch, the gentle rise and fall of her chest the only indication that she was even still alive.  

Guilt gnawed at Dipper now, it’s full force starting to sink in as his mind caught up to his own actions. It gained extra fangs whenever he looked at Mabel and the triangle now marring her left wrist. Bill hadn’t been lying, his was different from the one on his sister and great uncle’s wrist. Where he had Bill’s entire wheel the other two had simple triangles with an eye in the center. He’d almost feel thankful that the other’s marks weren’t as elaborate if it weren’t for the fact that his still stung every time he accidentally brushed it against something.

He looked over at Ford, still not able to find anything to say. His uncle had his journal in hand, writing frantically in it. The way his eyes were almost glazed over in concentration Dipper suspected he could start shouting and Ford wouldn’t notice. He couldn’t blame him though. Sure, weirdmaggedon had been stopped, but Bill was still in their world. What consequence would that have? And what was all that he was saying about turning into a human? It all seemed so crazy. Hugging his knees Dipper curled up into himself. He didn’t want to look at anyone or anything. He had ruined enough for one day.

The silence continued that way, the only sound the quiet scratching of a pen. Though it didn’t make them feel truly better, the silence was somewhat soothing. Dipper even felt himself begin to doze off, the idea of sleep tempting. However, it was not meant to be, the silence broken by the sound of a door slamming and heavy steps.

“FORD! THE HELL DID YOU DO?!”

Ford and Dipper both jumped at the loud shout, the spell of silence broken. It was the unmistakable voice of Stanley. It took only seconds before the fez wearing man was in the door way glaring daggers into his brother.

“Would you mind telling me why I’ve got a hideous new tattoo on my wrist Sixer?! Or why the god damn sky was the color of nightmares a moment ago?”

“S-Stanley, I can explain.” Ford said getting up. He threw a look back at Dipper and Mabel, the cogs of his mind obviously turning.

“Well? Get explaining.” Stan growled back.

“I’m sorry Stanley, I-“

“Great uncle Ford it’s ok. It’s my fault grunkle Stan.” Dipper cut in, head still hung low. Seeing his great uncle try to protect him made his stomach churn and he felt sick. No, he would take the blame for his actions, it was the least he could do if they all had to live with the consequences. “Mabel and I got in a fight, and she accidentally took my backpack. Something must have happened, because there was a dangerous thing in there that Ford asked me to protect and it must have broken.”

Stan stared down at his grandnephew. The kid looked like someone had died. He felt something painful tugging at his heart that he promptly tried to ignore. “Kid you don’t have to cover for my know-it-all brother. I told him to keep his supernatural garbage away from you kids.”

“Dipper, he’s right, I shouldn’t have involved you in all this to begin with.” Ford said.

“Don’t!” Dipper shouted, eyes beginning to well with tears. “Don’t stand there and act like it’s all your fault when we both know I’m the one who made the deal.”

“Kid?” Stan said, unsure what to say. The kid was speaking faster now, breaths coming faster, on the verge of hyperventilating. This might have been the worst he’d ever seen him, and it scared him.

“It’s my fault grunkle Stan! Because I said something stupid all of this happened, and Bill got Mabel and he was going to kill her! I couldn’t let her die, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“B-bro-bro?” Mabel started to open her eyes, voice heavy with sleep.

Dipper turned to see his sister finally waking and just felt something finally give. Tears began to flow unabated from his eyes, and his throat felt tight, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care, Mabel was awake and ok and god he was just so happy that she was alive. He’d make everything up to her, he’d apologize for everything, anything, whatever it took, he just wanted to be with his twin, his other half. He ran to her side and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Mabel!”  

“Uh… Did I miss something?”

“I’m so happy you’re ok Mabel, I’m so sorry for everything.” Dipper sobbed, not really listening to his sister’s confused question.

Mabel looked away at that, memories of earlier flooding back. Her own guilt hung heavy on her still and she didn’t know how to feel about it. She was still miserable at the idea of leaving Gravity Falls alone. Even so she couldn’t help but hug her twin back, whatever had happened it had clearly shaken Dipper badly. He wasn’t even being anxious about how awkward their hug was. Then the last memory hit, Bill. As Dipper continued to cry into her shoulder she looked and her two great uncles. They both looked extremely concerned and unsure what to do, making her feel even worse.

She started to pat Dipper’s back, hoping it would calm him down, and quietly told him to take slower breaths before turning back to her uncles. “Grunkle Ford, did Bill… win?”  

“Well Mabel,” Ford said, coming over and crouching down by the two. “I honestly don’t know.”

“But you know everything grunkle Ford.”

Ford couldn’t help himself and chuckled lightly at her statement. He had come to love his niece and nephew so much, and her endless optimism never failed to tickle him. “Well if you’re worried that he’s out there destroying everything, you can stop worrying about that. But…” He looked at Dipper, the boy finally starting to calm down but clearly lost in his own thoughts, “Well I’m honestly not sure how everything is going to shake out now. We’ll talk about it more later, but for now help me get your brother to bed?”

Mabel frowned but nodded. She was happy to hear her brother begin to take slow shuddering breaths, but she also felt him beginning to slump a little in their embrace. She had seen him get anxiety attacks before but this one seemed to have taken the cake and exhausted him completely. She was still upset and now incredibly confused, but for now that took a backseat to taking care of her brother.

Mabel carefully shift her hold on her brother, supporting his weight on her shoulder as she tried to tug him into a better position and coax him to walk. Despite her efforts he refused to move, and just hung there limply on his sister’s shoulder. She clicked her tongue at his lack of response. “Come on bro-bro, don’t go all silent and start ignoring me now.”

When Dipper still didn’t move Ford gently tugged him up and put him on his shoulders. He was surprised by how light his nephew felt and the lack of reaction to being picked up, and made a mental note to check on him later. He started to walk out of the room making his way towards the stairs, Mabel close behind. He didn’t miss his brother’s bewildered stare though and locked eyes with him for a moment, a silent agreement occurring between the two. They had a lot to talk about. He continued up the stairs towards the attic set on getting his nephew and niece in their room before yelling in earnest started between him and Stanley.

~

Mabel stared at the shut door as she sat beside Dipper’s bed. Once her uncle had put Dipper to bed and made sure he was breathing well he had quietly left, telling Mabel to watch over her brother. Mabel wanted to go down with him, and tried again to ask what happened, but Ford had been stern, saying that as soon as Dipper was feeling better they would talk about it. It didn’t make her feel any better though.

So instead she listened to the gentle breaths of her brother and ruminated. Whatever had happened had to be serious, there was no way it wasn’t. After all, she had seen Bill. Or at least him possessing the time travel guy. So that meant that Bill had made it into their dimension didn’t it? But if that was the case why did everything look normal when she looked out the window? Night had fallen, and the world was blanketed in dark blues and black, lit only by a calm moon and shining stars. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought it was just another normal night in Gravity Falls. It didn’t make any sense at all.

She looked back at Dipper, more troubled thoughts assailing her. She had no clue what she was going to say once he woke up and they had a real conversation that didn’t feature flat out confusion and anxiety attacks. To be completely honest, between Dipper’s display downstairs and her absolute confusion about what was going on she honestly dreaded it.

She was drawn back to the present as Dipper mumbled something in his sleep, turning slight. As he turned she caught sight of something red on the bottom of his wrist. Confused, she gently grabbed Dipper’s wrist, revealing red angry skin. He groaned when she accidentally touched part of it lightly, the brand still very painful to the touch.

“Oh god Dipper you didn’t…” she whispered out, horrified at the wheel marring his flesh. It was then that she noticed her own wrist sending her into even more horror and confusion. A triangle with an eye. She set down her brother’s arm, careful not to put the burn against the sheets, and switched her attention to her own brand. She touched it gingerly, scared it would hurt, however there was no flare of pain. That was odd. She could clearly tell that Dipper’s mark hurt him, but she didn’t feel a thing from hers. Not to mention it was so much simpler than his. But the implications were obvious. Some sort of deal had been struck with the triangular demon. She didn’t know what, but there was one thing she was sure of, Bill made bad deals. She shivered, terrified at the possibilities.

~

Bill hung high over the town, an invisible eye watching all. Despite his best efforts he felt extremely irritated ever since he had closed the rift. Closing it had cut him off from a substantial portion of his power and it left him feeling on edge. He had already made a few arrangements, set a few cogs in motion, made some deals. This would be the last deal he needed to put in place, all in the hopes of making sure he won this dumb little game. His omniscience was obscured considering who he was dealing with, so he was certain there would be some surprises, but he felt certain his own preparation would win him this little ‘compromise’. So, he just did his best to calm himself, or at the very least have the appearance of calm. Now wasn’t the time for lashing out mindlessly.

A long, suffering sigh echoed in his mind. _Cipher._

“Yes?”

  _I was hoping you’d go about this with a little more… finesse. Threatening the Pines into taking you in? Burning your image on them? You really don’t think any of this will change you in any way, do you?_

“Hey, cut me some slack. You really think after the things I’ve done to Sixer and Pine Tree they’d just happily invite me into their home? Come on Frilly, you know better than that. Maybe it was a little, ahem, direct, but look I even kept my half of the deal! Towns not on fire, no fun is taking place. It’s the same miserable little disgusting backwoods town that it always was. Why are you complaining? And the burn thing was insurance. Humans always break deals.”

_Very well. And the explanation for this shall we call it evening escapade? I’m not blind Cipher, I can see you trying to cheat the rules._

“You never said there were any rules before the 72 hours ended. Besides if you can see what I'm doing, just work your way around it. It shouldn’t be that hard for you right? I’m not even going to have any memories of the shit I set in motion after all.”

_I should have expected no less; a demon will always try to find the loop hole. But know that there are always consequences. I fear you will not enjoy them, but I suppose it shall simply contribute even more to your reformation. Then do as you will Cipher, go ahead and weave your web. I will not stop you._

“Then if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some work to do.”

Bill waited for a response, but none came. Once he was certain that ol’ Frilly was gone he resumed his watch. For this last deal he had to catch the person in the act, otherwise they would simply turn him down and deny that they wanted what he was offering no matter how much he had seen them salivating at the thought.

Yes, he simply had to be patient and careful, then all would work out his way.


	4. Mending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while. Things have been rough with work and school, not to mention the beginning of this chapter fought me tooth and nail to get written. It still feels a little stilted, but I hope you can enjoy it regardless. Lots and lots of talking this chapter, but don't worry, next chapter we're finally get this show on the road! As always thanks for reading, kudos, and comments. I love you all.

Dipper sat at the table refusing to meet his anyone’s eyes as they waited for breakfast. He had somehow managed to stay asleep the entire night, though he supposed it was only natural after the panic attack he had. Honestly, it was downright embarrassing when he thought about it now. He should have just been happy or relieved, but instead he just became a crying mess. He reasoned that it was probably because of their fight beforehand, making the events that followed that much more difficult to deal with. It didn’t make things better, but rationalizing things helped to calm him.

Things had been quiet that morning when he woke. His sister had already been awake, laying atop her bed while she doodled in her notebook. When she noticed he was awake she had asked if he was ok, obviously avoiding the elephant in the room. It was plain to see that she wanted to talk about it, to talk about their fight, but the conversation promised to be painful. So, they both just avoided it for the time being. He had given some noncommittal answer and asked if anything happened while he had been asleep. Mabel had simply shrugged.

It was when they came down to the kitchen that anything seemed different. Stan was making his signature Stancakes, which would have been normal enough if it weren’t for the presence of Ford, who usually elected to remain in the basement or his room this early in the day. Instead he was sat at the table, various books stacked beside his chair, reading some old dusty book. They both looked like they hadn’t slept a wink, the smell of coffee permeating the kitchen.

“So, are we going to talk about yesterday yet or…?” Mabel said swinging her legs in her chair.

“After breakfast.” Stan said gruffly, placing plates in front of Mabel and Dipper. He then brought a plate over to Ford, putting it down in front of him. When the man didn’t even look up from his book he cleared his throat to get his attention. “Ford, food.”

“Oh, that’s ok Stanley. I still have a lot of research to do.” Ford said still not looking up.

“Put the book down and eat Brainiac before I make you.”

Ford looked over the edge of his book at Stan, eyebrow raised. Stan simply glared back at him. “Ok, ok. Thank you for the food Stanley.” He said in defeat, marking his page and putting the book aside.

Stan grunted in approval finally take a seat of his own and digging into his own stack of pancakes. The rest of breakfast was a quiet affair, the cloud of yesterday still hanging over their heads. It wasn’t until the clink of dishes being placed in the sink finished that anyone dared to speak.

“Did… Did Bill come back last night?” Dipper quietly muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

Ford shook his head. “No, though considering we forgot to take down the barrier that might also be the reason.”

“Oh yeah, we’re going to have to do that aren’t we?” Dipper said dejectedly.

“Ok, hi, hold up. Time to tell Mabel what’s going on!” Mabel shouted standing in her chair. “I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on here!”

“Right, sorry Mabel.” Ford said, scratching the back of his head. “So yesterday… well, actually how much do you remember?”

“Dipper and I-“ She cut off there, still not ready to talk about it. “Anyways so when I ran out of the house Bill tricked me and broke this snow globe thing I found in Dipper’s backpack. But after that I’ve got nothing until waking up in the shack. Why do I have a weird triangle mark on my wrist, and what- what about Dipper’s?”

“I’m sorry Sis, that’s my fault.” Dipper said, refusing to look at her.

“After Bill broke the rift he came to the shack and threatened us. He wanted to make a deal and he used you as leverage.” Ford said frowning deeply.

“What kind of deal?”

“That’s the thing, it doesn’t make any sense. He’s broken into our dimension and is almost omnipotent. Yet he insisted that he hadn’t truly won. He said he wanted us to stay here in Gravity Falls, and that we’d be taking care of him in a human form. But I don’t understand why. It just isn’t something I could ever imagine him trying to do. There’s got to be something, some sort of plot or I don’t know.” Ford had stood while he spoke and was pacing now.

“Yeah it is kind of weird. But putting that aside what did he offer in return? Other than not killing me.”

“He said he would close the rift and never hurt any of us again.” Dipper said beside her. “I know it was stupid, but I just couldn’t let him hurt you or anyone else if I could help it. If something had happened to you I don’t know what I would have done.”

“Aww, Dipper…” Mabel said looking at her twin. “Stop beating yourself up bro-bro, no one blames you for wanting to protect your family.”

Dipper only sighed beside her.

“So, we have to stay in Gravity Falls? Even Dipper and me?” she asked.

“Yes. I have my suspicions that the brand on our wrists’ will probably prevent us from leaving, though I haven’t tested that yet.” Ford said, pausing to look at his own brand.

“The point is we’re all stuck here.” Stan interjected. “Ford and I are already trying to figure out a way to get your parents on board with letting you both stay. So, you better get comfortable I guess. You’ll be helping out in the gift shop like always and since you’re both staying you better behave.”

“Yes, grunkle Stan.” The twins groaned together.

“Good, now git.” He grumbled. “Ford and I have more things to discuss about this whole mess.”

“Shouldn’t we be here too then?”

“Absolutely not. It’s grown up stuff you don’t need to know about.”

The two got up after that and began to make their way up to their room. Dipper didn’t fail to notice Ford quietly mumbling about going to take down the barrier as he left, Stan just giving a grunt of agreement. Once he reached their room he grabbed a book and laid down on his bed, Mabel doing the same but with her sketchbook. As he pretended to read he let his mind go from one thought to another about their situation. He supposed it just still hadn’t sunk in all the way.  Bill hadn’t come back since they made the deal and if it weren’t for the brand he would have thought it all a bad nightmare.

As he mused to himself blue light flooded into the room through the window. Looking up from his book he saw the shield briefly before it shattered into nothing, and with it their only protection from Bill. He took a deep breath to ground himself, knowing that even with it gone Bill couldn’t go against the deal. He didn’t trust Bill, not by a mile, but he also couldn’t help but feel that he wouldn’t have made a deal at all after succeeding in coming to their dimension if he didn’t need it.

“Hey Dipper.”

Dipper jumped a little at the sound of his sister. He put his book down and looked her way, humming a small sound of acknowledgement.

“Are we gonna talk about our fight that led up to all of this?”

“If you want to.” He said awkwardly. “I didn’t really know what to say, and with the whole Bill thing I just kind of…”

“Yeah… I…” Mabel shifted uncomfortably. This was ending up more difficult than she thought it would be.

“Mabel, listen, I know that when I told you summer ends you didn’t take it well. It’s scary to think we’re growing up. I’m scared too though.”

“Then why did you want to leave me?” Mabel said, sniffling a little. “I know that I can be selfish, but I didn’t think you’d just up and abandon me.”

“Mabel, I-I wasn’t trying to abandon you.” He looked at the floor. “It’s just, you know, back home compared to you I don’t fit in anywhere. I hated it there. If I didn’t have you I would have been alone.”

“Dipper…”

“I know, it’s stupid. It’s just being here in Gravity Falls and with great uncle Ford I feel like I finally have some place that I actually belong.” He laughed bitterly. “Though I guess now thanks to me we’re stuck here no matter what.”

Mabel frowned. It was true, Dipper didn’t fit in very well with their classmates. She was always doing her best to try and include him in with her friends, or at least make sure he was never left out. But hearing him now she understood that it must have still been very lonely for her brother. After all, who wanted to only have one friend? Mabel made it a habit of befriending almost anyone, the exact opposite of her brother.

“I’m sorry Dipper. I shouldn’t have overreacted like that. I was just so scared of being left behind.” She said. She crossed over to his bed and punch him lightly on the arm, trying to give her best smile. “And don’t beat yourself up over doing what you felt you had to. We both know Bill is a jerk.”

Dipper gave her a small smile back. “Yeah.” He paused for a bit before speaking again. “What are we going to do Mabel? Just the other day I was excited to be here, but now? I don’t even know what’s going to happen you know?”

Mabel sat next to him. “Me either bro-bro. But no matter what comes our way we’ll have each other right?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Then for now, let’s just not worry about it. Awkward sibling hug?”

“Awkward sibling hug.” Dipper nodded back embracing his sister. The future may be uncertain, but in that moment, he felt like the two of them could take on the world and win. Once awkward pats were exchanged they both laughed happily. No matter what, together, they’d be ok.

~

Ford sat in his private study scribbling down notes about his adventures through the many dimensions he had visited, hoping that maybe if he wrote it down it would help to ascertain Bill’s motives. His mind wandered back to that mysterious oracle in dimension 52. He couldn’t help but wonder what she would say about all this. She had had no anger or hatred for Bill, she simply sought to bring his destructive nature to an end.  He supposed in a way this deal would accomplish those goals. But it still didn’t feel right.

Setting his pen down, he stared blankly at the papers on his desk. None of this was doing any good. Sighing he started to put the papers away, wondering if he shouldn’t get something to eat.

“Oh, come on Fordsy, don’t look so down!”

Ford let out an undignified yelp, dropping his papers. As the paper fluttered everywhere the golden triangle floated into his vision. He glared at Bill’s large, inscrutable eye. “Get out of here!”

“Hmmm, let me think about it, ha NO!” Bill flicked at his nose, chuckling a little. “Besides Fordsy, I think we should have a little chat. Don’t you?”

“What do you want?”

“Hey, hey, turn down the hostility a little. It’s just a chat!” Bill said, summoning his cane to lean on in midair.

“Why should I? After everything you’ve done, all the suffering you’ve put me and my family through.” Ford said through gritted teeth.

 “That attitude right there is why we have to talk. Look, I get it, we’ve got a pretty long history together, very little of it good. If I was in any other situation I honestly might find it charming how much you’ve done to try and fight me. You don’t like me, I’m pretty indifferent to you, it’s been a great _relationship_.” He chuckled a little at his word choice when he saw Ford cringe. “But come the day after tomorrow everything’s going to change. All I’m asking is that you tone it down a bit. Ya know, don’t rip my throat out the second I’m vulnerable.”

“I still have half a mind to.” Ford said bluntly.

Bill sighed. He had always found dealing with Ford to be frustrating. The man was just so damn _stubborn_. It made him want to rip him apart slowly, atom by atom. But well, that really wouldn’t solve anything right now. “I’m not asking you to like me. Hate me all you want, stay away from me, whatever. Just don’t lock me up and torture me to death here in your creepy basement. Here, I even have a gift to give you as an olive branch.” He snapped his fingers.

The blue flames of his magic flickered brightly in an alarmingly large display of fire. Despite it being unable to burn anything, Ford still rose from his chair, instinctual panic setting in. As quickly as he rose however, the fires dissipated into a huge stack of gold ingots neatly stacked in a pyramid. Ford’s eyes bugged at it.

“There’s enough there to make you way richer that anyone else in the entire town, including those obnoxious Northwest Idiots.” Bill chirped happily. “Consider it, what’s the word you humans use for it… Rent! Consider it rent.”

“Bill, I don’t want your gold.” Ford said, though he admittedly was already calculating the worth in his head. “You’re a menace to my family and if it weren’t for Dipper I’d kill you right now.”

“No?” Bill said, crossing his arms and looking a little angry. “Fine then, what do you want? Maybe some upgrades to this old lab of yours? Oh, I know, how about some renovations so that you’ve got more space for yourself. I mean with a growing family space is always short eh?”

“I want you to go away and leave my family alone!” Ford shouted, anger flaring brightly at Bill’s attempts to seemingly bribe him. “Why did you even make this damned deal demon?! I know you said you were going to die, but even then, I wouldn’t expect you to just give up. Why didn’t you just try to find a way around it? I don’t understand.”

Bill just silently stared at the human. He guessed he shouldn’t be surprised that Ford was bothered by the whole deal, and not just because a deal was struck. The man thought he knew Bill, and even Bill could admit his actions were pretty out of character. But he really didn’t want to die or lose everything that made him himself. The thought of losing himself was scarier than even dying. Yes, he had thought of a million ways to preserve a fraction of himself when he saw his defeat was unavoidable, but it wasn’t the same. Sure, this way he’d lose his memories for a while and that was almost just as bad, but this way he had a method for escape. For a way to reclaim is form after a trifling amount of time compared to any other option. It wouldn’t have been his plan A, but then plan A had been winning and doing whatever he wanted for all of eternity.

“Stop staring and answer me!” Ford nearly screamed.

“Yeesh, calm down. I know that you think you know me better than anyone, but the fact is you don’t. My plans are greater than you’ll ever understand with your pathetic monkey brain, but when you’ve got a god trying to mess with you, you have to learn when to bend.” He replied dismissively. “Look do you want anything or not? I’m trying to be nice here. You want something other than for me to disappear, ask me now, because I won’t be able to later.”

It was Ford’s turn to sigh now, and so he did. A deep, tired sigh. “No, just… just please leave me alone.”

“Fine, but I’m not cleaning up the gold. Throw it away for all I care, I went through the trouble of making it, so I’m not getting rid of it.” Bill pulled a pocket watch from nowhere and examined it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world for a moment. “Would you look at the time, it’s pretty late. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some dreams to haunt.”

And with that he disappeared once more, leaving Ford alone. The man collapsed back into his chair and sighed. Coffee. He needed coffee and lots of it.

~

_The water was cool and clear against his feet as he dangled then off the dock into the lake. It was a lovely day, the sky clear and blue. Around the lake the pines were a vibrant green. He looked out over the tranquil scene as a gentle wind blew past. It was a perfect summer day._

_A little out in the water his sister and friend were playing together, splashing each other and playing with squirt guns. He thought about joining them, but for some reason felt ambivalent about being in the water. He didn’t understand why, it was the perfect temperature, and the gentle waves that made their way to the shore almost seemed to invite him in. But still something chittered at the edge of his mind, telling him he shouldn’t get in. That it was a bad idea. But they were so close to shore, how could anything possibly go wrong?_

_Lost in his thoughts he didn’t notice his sister calling his name at first. When he finally snapped out of it and looked up at her she gave a huff._

_“Don’t ignore me like that! Get in here, the water’s great.” She said excitedly._

_“Yeah dude, wouldn’t you rather have a squirt gun war with us than sit up on that dock?”_

_“I dunno guys...” he said, suddenly uncomfortable. “I don’t know why, but I just feel like it’s a bad idea.”_

_“Heh, dude, that’s be_ c̕͡a҉uş͟e͡ ͜i̡͜͠t̸͡ ̧i͜s _!”_

_He screamed at the sudden voice distortion and scrambled to back away. Dark tendrils burst out of the water. As they twisted and writhed oddly they began to close in on the two in the water. Another wasn’t as slow though, shooting out and grabbing his around his middle and hoisting him in the air. Eyes wide, he screamed and tried to fight out of it’s grip but it’s grasp was like stone. As he continued to fight like a trapped animal, another scream had him snapping his gaze back up from the thing. The other tendrils had finally seized his sister and friend and oh god they were held by more than one. There was one for each limb and once they seemed to have decided they had a good enough grasp, they began to pull in opposite directions._

_They were going to be drawn and quartered. And he couldn’t do anything but watch. He clamped his eyes tightly shut and continued to struggle against the thing’s grip as he heard his sister’s pained screams. He felt his strength beginning to wane as he weakly beat his fist against the thing. He cried hot heavy tears as the screams continued._

_Suddenly all fell silent. He was scared to open his eyes, scared he’d see that his sister and friend were now just bloody corpses. He hadn’t heard anything though and the silence was heavy. Even the thrashing of the water had stopped as though even the tendrils had stilled. But that couldn’t be possibly, since he distinctly still felt the one holding him tightly. But the silence was too much, he had to know. He had to look. He slowly opened his eyes to be greeted by black?_

“SURPRISE!”

Dipper screamed at the exclamation, before his awareness began to take hold. Once it did though reason started to return to him and he finally understood the sight before him. Bill. Looking extremely pleased with himself.

“What the hell?!” Dipper shouted, squirming again to get free. “Did you just give me that awful nightmare?!”

The tendril suddenly and unceremoniously dropped him. Unprepared, he landed face first. He groaned in pain and frustration.

“Yeesh, relax. I was just having a little fun.”

“That’s your definition of fun?” Dipper asked in disbelief. “I thought we made a deal Bill. That was pretty darn painful!”

“But Pine Tree I spared you the worst part. What’s a little fear among friends?”

Bill had floated to his side and place his hand on Dipper’s shoulder. Shoving it off, Dipper retreated away from him again. He wanted as much distance as possible.

“Don’t _ever_ do that again!”

“Like I said kid, relax. Besides in a few days I won’t be able to do that anymore anyways. At least I don’t think so…” He said trailing off into thought for a moment. “Anyways, I wanted to have a chat! A private one. So where better than your dreams?”

“And you thought giving me a nightmare was the best way to start it.” Dipper deadpanned back.

“Ok, ok, it wasn’t nice. I get it. Uh… sorry?” It seemed more like he was asking himself than Dipper. Dipper concluded he wasn’t, but decided it wasn’t worth the energy. “In my defense the energy you put off when you’re thrust into a nightmare is intoxicating.”

“That really doesn’t make me feel any better. But fine, what do you want?”

“Well you see, you and Sixer are really probably the most paranoid, anxious people in this whole town, so I thought I’d offer a sort of peace offering. To, you know, sort of make up for the of the things I’ve done to you.”

“What? I know I’m dreaming right now, but did I suddenly lose my mind?”

Bill groaned in annoyance. “God, you and Sixer. Trust me kid, you’re both crazy but that has nothing to do with me. Well, maybe a little for Sixer.” He said, laughing mischievously. Dipper just glared at him.

“Anyways, since you’re my contractor I figured I’d try and be extra good to you. What would ya like Pine Tree? Knowledge? Wealth? Fame? It’s on the house.”

Dipper raised his eyebrow, skeptical. “What are you playing at?”

“Hm? Nothing. I mean it, whatever you want, on the house. We’re not even going to shake on it. Though let me give you some advice. Don’t go for knowing everything, it might drive you crazy.”

“Can Mabel and I go home?”

“No, that’s under a contract. There’s no getting out of it. So, pick something else.”

Dipper frowned. “There isn’t anything I really want other than to explore the town’s weirdness and be happy with Mabel and everyone.”

Bill rolled his eye. “I’m offering anything within a few limitations and you don’t want anything. Come on kid. How about a map to secrets in the town you’ve never seen? Or want to meet some creatures even Sixer hasn’t seen? There’s a lot in those woods you know.”

“Of course, I want those things, but just being given the answer is kind of like cheating.” He said scratching the back of his neck. “Part of the fun is getting to figure it out.”

“Fair enough.” Bill said, his eye narrowing and his hand moving just underneath it in thought. “I’ve got it! How’s about I give you a hint to something really big? But don’t expect me to explain it even a little bit. I’ll leave it all up to you to figure out. What do ya say?”

“I dunno…”

“Look I promise it’s safe and all that. Come on, you want an adventure, right? I’ll get you started on one.”

“Alright, I guess so. But I swear if you’re wasting my time I’ll find a way to get back at you.”

“Trust me kid, it won’t be. Promise.”

Dipper didn’t find the promise reassuring at all, but he figured that nothing that bad would happen. He finally just nodded, standing awkwardly in the black nothingness.

“Alright, great. Now that that’s all settled we should both get some rest.”

“And how exactly do I do that?”

“I’ll be resting in your mind, since I’m getting pretty tired constantly maintaining a physical form. And for you it’s easy.”

Dipper suddenly felt the “ground” disappear from underneath him and he began to fall into blackness, Bill disappearing from sight. He screamed as he fell, certain he was going to hit some invisible hard ground and die. Reality defied his expectations though when he felt something soft and warm hit his back. He felt his body relax from the tension and expectation of pain and just laid still.

“Just relax like if you were normally going to sleep.” Came Bill’s disembodied voice.

“Yeah, ok, got it.” He mumbled, snuggling more into the warmth surrounding him. It was odd, he didn’t see anything at all, but it felt nice, so he just let it go. As he melted into the warmth he felt his consciousness slip away and a pleasant dreamless sleep overtake him.


	5. A house of mystery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, happy valentines day! Here's another chapter as a gift! I hope you enjoy it. Please excuse the lack of romance.   
> On another note if I could, I'd like to have some feedback from you, my readers, about my update frequency. Right now I have a slow turn over because I try to make sure that each chapter is at least 3000 words or more. This chapter is 5000 and would have been longer had I not decided to cut it in half. I have very little time to write between my other obligations so it takes a fair amount of time to make a long chapter. What I'd like to ask is would you prefer that I keep things the way they are, update slowly but have large chapters, or would you rather I do smaller chapters and update more frequently? Thank you for any feedback, comments or kudos.

Dipper awoke the next morning feeling surprisingly well rested, a rare treat considering most of the summer he had trouble sleeping. Sitting up and stretching, he saw Mabel still asleep across from him. Doing his best to remain quiet, he got dressed and slipped out of the room to go get breakfast. It seemed everyone was still asleep when he got downstairs, so he decided to just help himself. Sitting down in the living room with a bowl of cereal, he switched on the tv to watch cartoons, though he made sure to keep the volume low. As he ate and watched mindless tv he wondered where Bill was.

_I’m still up here kid._

Dipper yelped at the sudden intrusion, nearly dropping his bowl, as the unmistakable voice rang through his head.

“Wait what? You’re still in my head?”

_Yeah._

“Why?” he said, irritated. He had been uncomfortable with the fact that Bill wanted to ‘rest’ in his head last night to begin with, but he had fully expected him to leave when he woke up. Besides how much rest did an all-powerful demon really need? He wanted him out this instant.

_Ugh, will you relax. Stop being angry, it makes it uncomfortable in here._

“Good, get out of my head.”

_You don’t have to say everything out loud you know? Makes you look crazy._

The light chuckles that followed only served to make Dipper even angrier. He didn’t say anything, unamused. He tried to imagine the triangle being tossed about his mind, hoping that he’d painfully smack into something if that was even possible. Ford had explained that while Bill was powerful, he was still vulnerable in the mindscape, especially if he entered a specific mind. He had great power and a fair amount of control, but within the confines of another’s mind it was easier to fight back.

_Ugh come on, please? Look I’m just still really tired and where we’re going today I want to save as much energy as possible. So just relax and watch your dumb show or whatever? Uh, Please?_

Dipper’s mood shifted quickly from angry to confused. He could never help his inquisitive nature and where the triangle went mystery and intrigue followed. What did Bill mean? He knew that they were going to go on some sort of mystery hunt, but Bill hadn’t been clear on the specifics. What could they be doing that required energy? He once again wondered how Bill could possibly even be tired. He hadn’t questioned it a lot last night but now it just seemed ridiculous. And even if he was out of energy where could they possibly be going that he’d need to save it?

_I told you last night I’d get you started on something big. We have to do it today, only the frilly bastard knows how I’ll be tomorrow. Like I said, it’s safe. We’re just going to this abandoned house in the woods and getting a few books. I’m just being cautious, since I don’t have access to my all-seeing eye with the rift closed. I was checking it out before I made a deal with you, and nothing especially dangerous was there, but I don’t trust anything not to go wrong. Trust nothing and no one after all._

‘Wait you can’t see everything without the rift?’ Dipper thought, somewhat shocked. This was a bombshell. He continued, his mind swirling with a million questions. ‘Is that why you’re tired as well? Do you have some sort of connection to the nightmare realm? If you do, why didn’t you disappear with it when you closed the rift?’

_Hey, slow down with the questions. I’m not answering all those. It’s not the only reason, but yes, being away from the nightmare realm has its effects on me. It’s a dimension of pure chaotic energy, easy for me to consume and utilize. I drain faster without it, and it’s more taxing to use all my power. But there’s still plenty of magical energy in Gravity Falls to consume, so don’t get any ideas Pine Tree. Now if you’re done asking every stupid question you can possibly think of can we return to the matter at hand._

‘You know that no matter what you’re the biggest mystery of this town right? Can you really blame me? But right, a mystery house I’ve never seen before despite wandering the woods all summer filled with mysterious books that lead to some big mystery.’

_Flattery won’t get you anywhere kid. And yes, a house in the woods. The reason you haven’t found it is because it’s hidden well. But don’t worry, I’ll show you how to find it. Oh, one thing though, if you can, try to discourage Shooting Star from joining us. It’s going to be hard enough insuring nothing happens to you, I don’t need an extra person to worry about._

“Hey, don’t underestimate my sister, she amazing. If she wants to come along she’s coming.”

_Don’t make this harder than it has to be. It’ll be faster with just the two of us. We’ll go in, get the books, and get out. It’s not that hard!_

“Go where now?!” Mabel shouted from behind him.

This time Dipper did drop his bowl, the small bit of cereal and milk left spilling on the floor. He groaned. This morning was turning out to be a constant string of scares and confusion and he was getting tired of it. “Mabel! Don’t sneak up on me like that.” He snapped.

“I wasn’t trying to, I even said good morning, but you didn’t say anything.” She said defensively, “Then suddenly you blurted out something about me coming somewhere with you?”

Dipper put his hand to his forehead, rubbing lightly, a headache forming. He shouldn’t have snapped at her like that. It wasn’t her fault. “Sorry Mabel. I guess I was just so focused on talking to Bill I didn’t notice.”

“Huh?” Mabel looked around trying to find the triangular demon before looking back at Dipper confused. “Dipper, you’re not losing your mind, right?”

“I might as well be. He’s in my head at the moment.” Dipper sighed.

“Dipper you let Bill into your mind?!” Mabel gasped. “You know how dangerous that is!”

“Relax Shooting Star, he wouldn’t have been able to keep me out even if he wanted to. Besides I can’t really do much in here anyways.”

Mabel looked at him shocked as he spoke, one of his eyes having turned into that odd cat’s eye pupil, yellow coloring the iris. But as quickly as it changed, it changed back to Dipper’s normal brown. Dipper looked as freaked out as she was now. The fear was evident in his expression and she knew what was coming. They hadn’t talked about it much, but she knew he had been having nightmares ever since that day. Dipper was terrified of being Bill’s sock puppet again. And considering that awful note she had found she didn’t blame him.

“I-I didn’t k-know he could d-d-do that…” He stuttered, blind fear starting to seize him. Memories of the sock opera and the aftermath began to swell to the front of his mind, reminding him of how awful the whole experience had been. Watching Bill mess around in his body with the full intention of killing him had been surreal and scary enough. But when he had finally managed to get his body back he felt beat to hell and back. There were still scars from some of the more violent things Bill had done to him, such as the forks. He never wanted a repeat of the experience and yet it had just happened. It was on a smaller scale, only taking control long enough to speak but that didn’t make it any less frightening. Could Bill do that at any time he wanted now? The thought made him sick. He felt his breath begin to quicken as his thoughts raced.

_Woah, woah Pine Tree! Breath! I don’t have any control over you, you’re fine! I promise! Just calm down and breath!_

Dipper didn’t believe of word of the echo in his mind as he felt lungs and throat refuse to take even a small breath. Mabel was beside him now telling him pretty much the same things, but he didn’t feel fine, or safe, or anything approaching either of those. No, he had made a deal with the most terrifying demon in existence and now he was in his head saying empty placations. He never should have agreed to Bill’s ‘gift’ last night. He should have screamed for him to get out of his head, to tell him he wasn’t interested in anything Bill had to offer. But once again his damn curiosity got to him just like it did with the laptop, the journals, and Ford’s research. Why did he have to be so stupid?

_Alright, that’s it. I’ve had enough of this. If you aren’t going to calm down yourself I’ll do it for you,_ Bill stated irritably, _Panic later kid, we got things to do today._

Out of nowhere an odd feeling of calm washed over Dipper, his heart rate beginning to slow and breathing slowly becoming easier. It was jarring at first. He didn’t know what had caused the sudden reversal of his anxiety attack, but he knew Bill had a hand in it. But for some reason, in that moment, he didn’t care. He just focused on taking slow shaky breaths until they finally evened out. He closed his eyes for a moment, leaning into Mabel, who had pulled him into a hug at some point. The warmth felt nice.

“Dipper are you ok?” She asked uncertainly as she let go of him.

“Yeah.” He said slowly, a little unsure at first. After a moment of taking better stock of himself he answered again, more confident. “Yeah, I’m ok now. I’m sorry about that Mabel.”

“Don’t apologize Dipper. It’s that dumb triangle’s fault.” She chastised gently.

“Heh, yeah.”

_Hey, I’m still here you know! I can hear you!_

 Dipper winced at the shout in his head. Mabel gave him a look, but he just shook his head at her, trying to convey he was fine. He had already worried her more than enough. ‘Ok I get it. Stop shouting,’ he thought back to Bill, ‘What did you even do?’

_It’s difficult to explain, but I guess you could think of it like flipping a switch. Your fear response is wild kid. It would have taken a long time for it to calm down. So, I just forced it along, flipped it off._

‘Oh, thanks I guess.’

_Don’t thank me yet, you’ll have wild nightmares tonight._

“Ugh, great.” He couldn’t help groaning aloud.

“Bill?” Mabel asked.

“Bill.” Dipper said nodding back. He was growing sick of all this quickly. He had never wanted any this insanity. Sure, things had been fun at first, the mystery exciting, but now? Now everyone had been dragged into a gigantic mess, all thanks to one stupid equilateral triangle. “All of this is just so crazy I don’t even know how to deal with all of it. One minute everything is fine, the next I find out something new and horrible, or bad memories come back and try and make me feel awful.”

“I know right?” Mabel snorted sitting down beside him. “But it’s been like that all summer. And it’ll probably keep being like that now that we’re sticking around. But hey it’s now all bad! Come on bro-bro, look on the bright side. You get to stay and hang out with Ford and study all the weird crazy things here in Gravity Falls. And we get to stay together! I think that’s great.” She had a wide happy smile at that last thought. She was so happy to be able to stay with her twin, even if it wasn’t back home in Piedmont.

Dipper chuckled at her enthusiasm. He marveled at how she always knew what to say. “Yeah, I have to admit that is pretty cool.”

“See? It’ll be great!” She said beaming. “So, any plans for today? We’ve all been moping around the house and that’s no fun. You were talking to Bill about going somewhere, right?”

 “Yeah, I was thinking I’d go out and explore in the woods for a bit today. According to Bill there’s so mysterious house that I haven’t seen so I wanted to try and find it.”

“Oh cool. You want me to come along then?”

“Only if you want to. I’m not sure I’ll find anything, or if Bill isn’t just pulling my leg, ya know? Oh, but you should tell Candy and Grenda the good news. Have you talked to them yet?”

“Oh yeah, I totally forgot!” Mabel said making a silly face. “Well they won’t be here for our birthday but at least I’ll get to spend the school year with them. Wow, it’s only been like one day and that all feels like years ago…”

“Yeah, it feels like so much has happened in the span of just a day…” Dipper said, almost amazed at how little time had actually passed. “Right, our birthday is at the end of the week. We haven’t really done anything to celebrate yet have we?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry, that just means we have to make it extra awesome!”

Dipper laughed at that as he started to get up. He groaned a little as he stretched. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll leave that to you then, if that’s alright Miss Party Expert. Anyways I’m gonna go get ready and head out ok?”

“Ok, be safe bro-bro. Oh, Bill can hear me, right?”

_Yes._

“Yeah.”

“You better keep my brother safe or I’ll destroy you, you isosceles monster!” She shouted, sticking her tongue out.

~

It didn’t take long for Dipper to prepare for his trek through the woods. He grabbed his vest and hat before stuffing Journal 3 into a backpack along with some snacks and water. He felt excitement as he left the house and started to take his first steps into the woods. The last two days had been such an emotional roller coaster that he had been worried he wouldn’t enjoy going out, that adventures would somehow be spoiled from everything that had happened in such a short span of time. But as the scent of pines surrounded him and the warm light of late morning filtered through the trees he felt a quiet happiness. This was where he belonged.

‘So where are we headed?’ He asked. Bill had been quiet up until now, and while that in itself felt like a small miracle, he couldn’t help but be a little suspicious. He was always talking, well, screaming might be a better way to put it. The demon seemed to love the sound of his own voice sometimes, just talking for the sake of talking, so the absence was odd. Besides, he needed to know where they were going.

_Just keep going straight, I’ll tell you if you need to turn or anything._

Dipper raised an eyebrow at that, Bill sounded like he was honestly tired. It was odd, but he brushed it off. Bill had insisted he was, so maybe he really wasn’t lying about it. He reminded himself though that even if it was true, he should never trust Bill. Things continued on in silence as he carefully made his way deeper into the woods. Occasionally Bill would tell him to turn somewhere but otherwise no conversation passed between the two. After what felt like several hours of hiking but was probably at most an hour, Bill finally told him to stop. Dipper looked around curiously, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Just up ahead of them was an empty clearing, a small stream flowing its way across it.

“Bill there isn’t anything here.”

_There is, we just need to break the protections. Start looking around for weird symbols carved into trees. There should be three of them. There’s probably on several different ones around the edge._

‘Ok then…’ Dipper thought as he began to look around at the trees closest to him. It took a few minutes of wandering from tree to tree until he found an odd carving on one of the trees. Carved deeply into the bark was a complex circle, a crescent moon in the center of it. Going from the center out were odd symbols and what he assumed was words in another language, though not one he had ever seen before. He ran a finger over it, tracing the lines and symbols. Every shape was perfect, having been carefully carved. ‘I assume this is it?’ he thought.

_Yup, good job kid. Now time to break it. That’s the end of my free ride I suppose._

Dipper winced for a second as a quick jolt of pain went through his head before immediately dissipating. When he opened his eyes, he saw Bill floating there in front of the tree, back turned to him. Something felt off about the triangle as he stared at it, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

“So how are you going to break it?” Dipper asked.

“Well if it was a normal protection circle you could have done it with just a knife.” Bill said as his hand ignited in its usual blue fire. He put his hand to the circle, the fire slowly and carefully beginning to burn into the lines. As the fire worked its way into each line a silver fire suddenly flared up around them, angrily trying to smother out the blue. Bill narrowed his eye as he pumped in more magic and continued, “This thing, however; had been charged with a dangerous kind of magic. You see the idiot who used to live here was quite paranoid and went to something pretty dangerous to hide himself from the world. And for once it wasn’t me!”

The silvery fire fought back every inch against Bill’s magic but couldn’t withstand his assault as it began to dim and flicker out. Once the silver fire had been entirely replaced with Bill’s there was a shriek and a black liquid began to seep from it. Bill let his magic fade away, the seal successfully broken.

Dipper eyed the now dripping seal with a mix of curiosity and fear in his eyes. He had not been expecting the thing to literally scream from being undone. The black liquid must have been somewhat acidic, as it dripped down it left behind a burned trail, the lines of the seal that had been there completely gone. “Well that was dramatic.”

“Yeah, though she never was one for dramatics before.” Bill said staring pensively at the burn. “I suppose even something like her wants a little bit of fun from time to time.”

“Her?”

“Oh, just an odd acquaintance of mine. I haven’t seen her in millennia, so I assumed she’s gone back to sleeping in some odd place. Though I suppose the seal proves otherwise. Anyways, come on, two more to go.”

Dipper groaned, his curiosity demanding he pry more. But Bill’s response had meant he would say no more and he knew it. Instead he simply trailed behind the floating demon as they continued their search, puzzling over the new cryptic information he had let slip out. It took a while to find the other two and repeat the same process, each time the seal screaming out before burning away in a disturbing black ooze. He was somewhat surprised how smoothly the whole affair was going, having expected something to go wrong like it was wont to do.

“So, what now?” Dipper asked as the last one burned away. He was starting to feel tired and felt like they had been going in circles looking for the other two seals. He hoped that was all there was to this.

“Turn around and look in the clearing.”

Dipper nodded, hoping that meant they were done, he turned to do as he was told. As he stepped forward he gasped at what he glimpsed between the trees before running to edge of the tree line to get a better look. The once empty clearing now housed an impressive house with a modest fenced in front garden leading up to its spacious porch that wrapped around to the back of the house. An odd mix of Victorian and Asian architecture, the house was mostly dark or neutral tones, a mix of rich woods and subdued paints. The doors and windows leading inside the home were decorated with a crescent moon motif, most of the windows being circular with parts of the glass colored to create a gold and silver moon. As he stared at the house he guessed at least three floors from the size and windows. On the highest point of its tiled roof was another ornate decorative moon ornament.

“Where was this even hiding?!” Dipper exclaimed as he looked the place up and down. He didn’t know what he had expected when he came out here, but certainly it was not this. The house was definitely an oddity, it barely even felt real. But he supposed much like the Mystery Shack this was where such a weird place belonged. He couldn’t help but feel a little grateful to Bill for having brought him here, but he’d never say it out loud.

“The magic in those seals hid it in a sort of pocket dimension. Only the owner of the house key could have entered without destroying them.” Bill said as he floated up beside him. “Everything we need should be in the study on the second floor.”

Dipper glanced at Bill while he spoke, the distinct sense that something was off coming back. Earlier he hadn’t been able to tell what it was, just knowing for certain something was different from normal. Now though, it was more obvious. Bill was smaller in size than usual. The demon was usually only a little bit smaller than him, perhaps an inch or two, but now seemed to be only half his height. He knew he could change his size freely, but he generally maintained a certain size unless he was trying to be intimidating. He wondered what caused him to shrink himself down but brushed it aside for the task at hand. If Bill wanted to be a little smaller than usual so be it. He turned back to the house, a wide grin shining on his face.

“Alright, let’s go.” Dipper said, excited to explore the house despite the possible dangers.

“Excited, aren’t we?” Bill chuckled, floating forward. He ignored the fencing entirely, simply floating over it, while Dipper tried to open the metal gate leading into the yard. Luckily it opened with ease, but the thing squeaked terribly as he moved it and stepped inside.

The garden itself was neatly kept, something that Dipper found to be extremely odd considering the place was supposed to be abandoned. To one side of the garden was a lush lawn with the creek that ran through the clearing flowing through it, the water creating a pleasant sound as it lazily flowed past. By it stood a large tree, it’s green leaves brilliant and bright in the summer sun, stepping stones running up to it. Away from the creek, there were neatly manicured bushes and flowerbeds, various small bright flowers planted in them. Decorated pots filled with larger, more striking flowers ran along the fences and little path leading to the door. Overall it was a beautiful, peaceful place. Dipper could just imagine sitting on the porch in a comfortable chair and reading an afternoon away to the sound of water and gentle summer winds. This wasn’t how an abandoned house was supposed to feel.

“Are you sure this place in abandoned?” Dipper asked feeling a great amount of trepidation as he walked towards the front door.

“Absolutely. There’s probably just some small guardian spirit keeping it in repair.”

“Will a guardian spirit really be ok with us trespassing?” He thought aloud.

“Eh it’ll be fine! Ladies first Pine Tree!” Bill shouted as he pushed Dipper into the front door.

Dipper fell forward with an undignified scream into the house, the front door apparently not having been completely shut. He quickly stood up, embarrassment lighting his face up. He turned around to face the demon and shout at him. As he was expecting, said demon was floating there, absolutely breaking down in laughter. For some reason Dipper’s face burned even more at the sight. He was torn between shouting at him or just hiding his face. Shouting and anger won out.

“Bill don’t do that!”

“Too late Pine Tree! You should have seen your face!” The demon choked out between laughs.

Dipper huffed angrily and turned back to the entryway of the house. He wouldn’t let Bill’s terrible sense of humor distract him. The hallway was a bit darker than he expected it to be, the sun high in the sky to signal it to be around noontime. But then there didn’t seem to be any windows directly lighting up the hall other than the door, so it made sense. The wooden floor creaked as he took his first tentative steps forward, making his way to the first door he saw to his left. It was one of those sliding doors, the door made of paper and wood. He paid no mind to the golden glow he saw out of the corner of his eye as he slid the door open and stepped inside.

The room was similar to a living room or parlor, fine leather couches and chairs arranged around a mahogany coffee table. Against the walls were a set of shelves with various things such as art pieces arranged on it. This room was brighter than the hallway, larger windows allowing in plenty of light. The colored moons in the circular windows colored the room in warm yellows and cool silvers. Like everything else about the house, it was beautiful, but not where they needed to go.

He exited the room and looked around, trying to find stairs. As he made his way into the house he continued to slide doors open and looking into each room. There was a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom, what looked like a guest bedroom, all a mix of elegance and simplicity. He finally found the stairs tucked into an alcove in the back of the hall.

“Is this it?” Dipper asked, turning to Bill.

“Yeah, follow me.” Bill floated his way forward towards the stairs as he began to lead the way up the stairs. He kept a steady pace as Dipper followed behind, not allowing the boy to pause and take in his surroundings too closely as he had before. After a few turns down some more hallways, Bill stopped before a door, this time a normal western style door with a lock. The doorknob glowed blue for a second before there was a click and the door slowly swung open by itself. He floated to the side and gestured for Dipper to go in.

Dipper stepped into the room without hesitation and looked around. Once again it was a lavish room decorated with beautiful bookshelves and various delicate looking sculptures and vases. In the center sat a desk, various papers and books spread out on its surface. Dipper quickly skimmed the titles on the bookshelves. Most of the books were related to the occult or collections of legends. He was impressed by the big collection and hoped he’d be able to come back and browse more of them in time.

Dipper was startled out of his reading by the sound of a book hitting the floor behind him. Turning around he saw Bill grabbing various books, gazing over them for a moment, then throwing them carelessly to the floor. He inwardly cringed at the sight.

“Bill what are you doing?!” He protested.

“Trying to find what we’re looking for.” Bill stated as he threw another book over his shoulder.

“Come on, treat them a little nicer. Some of these books are really rare.” Dipper said, moving to pick the thrown volumes up and stack them neatly on the desk.

“Don’t care. Unless they’re what we’re looking for they’re irrelevant.” The demon said as he grabbed another one. “Ah, here we go, you’ll need this one. Catch!”

Dipper scrambled to catch the book that Bill had thrown in his direction. Safely in his grip, he glanced down at it. The black bound volume had no title, confusing Dipper until he opened it. He saw it was in fact a journal, similar to Ford’s own journals. He flipped through it excitedly, glancing over the pages. He could already see a fair amount of it was coded and looked forward to the challenge of decoding it. Alongside the codes were sketches, maps, and various equations. He wondered if Ford would be interested in them as well. He was so engrossed in the book that he didn’t notice as Bill threw more books on the floor around him, only being gentle to those he deemed they needed. In total he piled three more journals onto the desk as well as a collection of loose papers and letters.

The demon gave a once over of the study again before growling loudly in frustration, the sound pulling Dipper back to reality.

“What’s wrong?”

“The last journal is missing. It’s the most important one out all five of them. And it’s not here!” Bill growled, shoving an entire shelf of books to the floor.  

“It’s probably just somewhere else in the house. It’s alright, we’ll find it.” Dipper said, confused by the reaction. Sure, it might be annoying to have to search through the whole house to find the last book, but he would have expected Bill to laugh it off and make him search high and low for it. “What’s the big deal?”

Bill didn’t answer at first, instead staring at the ceiling. “I may have lied a little bit when I said that this house was safe.”

Dipper wasn’t even surprised at this point. Of course, he didn’t trust Bill to start with. The house had been spotless and that alone was a giant red flag to him. But Bill had seemed at ease in the house, so he simply accepted that if there was something it wouldn’t be anything they couldn’t handle. But whatever was up on the top floor seemed to be more than Bill wanted to deal with. “Bill, what’s upstairs?” He said.

Before the demon even answered phantom music began to echo through the house. The sound of plucked strings created a sweet yet mysterious melody that fit the house perfectly. As the strings continued to play a melodious flute joined in. Dipper felt a haze begin to cloud his mind as the soothing music continued to play. Something about the sound was incredibly inviting, as though the players were asking him to come in. His mind was so hazy he didn’t notice as he walked out into the hall. He would have continued onward in his trance had a hand on his shoulder shook him. The spell broken he looked back over his shoulder. Bill floated there, eye narrowed on the hallway in front of them.

“Resist it Pine Tree, otherwise they’ll eat you.” Bill said evenly, floating ahead of Dipper. “Though I suppose it would be rude to ignore their invitation. Stay behind me and don’t let their music get you again.”

Dipper tried his best to stuff down the awful sense of foreboding he felt and ran to catch up.


	6. I won't allow it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, here's a poorly written chapter of action that is like all over the place. I tried my best to spruce it up but I'm really bad at writing this kind of stuff, forgive me. I hope you enjoy it none the less! Also here is one of a handful of my OCs. I hope you don't find them too grating. This was edited half drunk so if there are mistakes, my apologies.

Bill had honestly hoped this whole ordeal would run smoothly even though he knew better by this point. He knew that the damn Axolotl would interfere. But that didn’t stop a guy from hoping. Alas, as always, his paranoia was better founded than his hopes. He wondered why he even bothered anymore.

He had originally checked while still in the nightmare realm and all the books had been in the study. They had been neatly put up and ready for the taking. It was with this knowledge that when he saw everything was in different places he could feel the obstacles being set before him. To be more precise, two obstacles in particular, currently playing a hypnotic song designed to lure in victims. He couldn’t help but feel bitter amusement at the creatures that frill bastard would suffer over him. What’s more he was getting low on energy to work with and suspected that a prolonged fight would result in his loss at that moment, an outcome he would not tolerate. But how could he change the situation in his favor?

As he pondered an answer to his problems he came to the base of the stairs. The music continued its soothing assault from up the darkened passage way. Looking up the dark corridor he lamented that he still didn’t have anything concrete. He couldn’t delay this confrontation much longer. He didn’t have the brute force required, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other ways. He decided that if he couldn’t force it he would have to try something subtler. Perhaps subterfuge would work. At the very least it was the best choice given the circumstances. He turned, and looked at Dipper, a plan quickly forming in his mind. The only problem was that he would have to rely on the kid.

“What?” Dipper asked as the demon stared at him. “Are we going up or not?”

“Pine Tree I need you to do something really important and if you mess it up we’re probably both dead.”

“Uh ok…?” Dipper said unsurely. Bill could almost see the gears of his mind grind together in anxiety. “What do you need me to do?”

“I’m going to make it so that you can’t be sensed and while I distract our ‘hosts’ you’re going to sneak to where they have the journal and take it.”

“That doesn’t sound too hard.”

“Great! Then you’ll be needing this. Oh, and try not so scream, I promise it’s not permanent.” He snapped his fingers, his magical fire bursting forth on Dipper’s birthmark. The fire burned down into a thin line along his forehead before burning out completely. Slowly an eye identical to Bill’s opened on the boy’s forehead.

Dipper’s eyes widened, and he quickly clapped his hands over his mouth to stifle the scream that tried to escape his lungs. The boy dropped to his knees, frightened and overwhelmed as the new eye blinked a few times. As he concentrated on slowing his breathing he felt odd. He saw odd silver threads on the floorboards that he had not seen before. The threads worked their way towards the stairs, shining dimly as they disappeared into the darkness. His eyes lit up with interest as his heartrate began to even out again. He heard Bill chuckle lightly beside him. Turning to the demon he noticed the electric blue light coming from him, tiny flame like embers dancing in the air around him. They glowed weakly as they dissipated outward, a sight Dipper found to be oddly beautiful and gentle. Every once in a while, some of the lights would come towards him, dancing lightly around him before sinking into his skin. He could barely contain his excitement and wonder, something Bill noticed with great satisfaction.

“Neat huh? You’re borrowing some of my vision, so you can see the magic flowing about. It also makes it harder to distinguish you from me since your essence is weaker than mine.”

Dipper reached up to the third eye, rubbing near it as it blinked shut. The feeling of the eye was still bizarre and felt anything but natural, but it felt worth it to see the magic. He could barely believe what he was seeing. There was magical energy pulsing all around them and yet without Bill’s help he was blind to it. It was amazing. “You see like this all the time?”

“That and so much more Pine Tree. I am the _ALL_ -seeing eye.”

Dipper felt a little unnerved by that, wondering what all the demon could see. It was just another question about the enigma that was Bill. Dipper wondered if he’d ever truly understand anything whatsoever about the odd being.

“Alright let’s get a move on Pine Tree. I have no doubt that they’ll have the book surrounded by some magical trap so be careful. If worse comes to worse just be ready to run.”

Without another word Bill started up the steps into the darkened hallway. At the top was yet another pair of sliding doors, but this time there was an ornate painting across the doors. A night scene was depicted, the now familiar crescent moon shown through the branching clusters of cherry blossoms in the foreground. Towards the bottom of the doors were a copious amount of spider lilies, a flower that shouldn’t have been in a spring scene, their bright red flowers standing out beneath the cherry blossoms. It looked like nothing more than a floral scene at first glance but if one looked closely they’d make out red splotches on some of the delicate pinkish petals, and a what looked like bones amongst the spider lilies, a portrayal of blood stained flowers and death.

Bill rolled his eye at the ornate door, wondering if they couldn’t have overdone it more. He knew they were the common symbols of his old acquaintance, much like eyes were to him, but really, the whole house was already painted up and down with the moon, it didn’t need the flowers too. He looked back at Dipper, urging his magic to completely hide the boy from sight and mind, and willed the sliding doors to open. As soon as they did the music abruptly stopped and Bill took it as his invitation to enter.

_Come on Pine Tree and stay as quiet at you can._

While the rest of the house had been nice, compared to everything else this room felt downright opulent. Patterns of flowers had been carefully carved into the wood of the walls, twisting up to the ceiling. A dark wooden altar decorated richly with similar carvings and inlaid moonstone sat at the center of the room. Silver cloth that looked more liquid than solid ran over the top, parts of it cascading down to the floor. On top of it sat a cherry blossom branch, the flowers on the cut branch somehow blooming, a dagger, a skull, and the journal they sought.. Behind the altar was a black tapestry, a silver crescent moon emblazoned upon it.

To either side of the altar sat a woman, a pair of perfectly identical twins. Dressed in plain black kimonos, they had long white hair tipped in red. They had soft round features with large doe like eyes an unnerving pink in color. One sat before a koto, the other held a flute. As Bill entered, Dipper silently trailing him, they bowed slightly.

“Welcome Lord Cipher.” The two said in unison as they turned their unsettling gaze upon him.

“Well well well, if it isn’t a pair of the slimy salamander’s jailers. And to what do I owe the pleasure of the two of you meddling in my affairs?” Bill chirped back, his eye and body language all smiles that failed to disguise his obvious tone. Of course, it was all an act, but an act he had to maintain. This whole thing was simply a way to stall while Dipper quietly snuck to the altar and grabbed the book. It was not an easy task, as silver strands of magic hung all over the room, dangerous magic traps to ensnare intruders.

_Pine Tree avoid all those threads or it’s game over._

_Got it._  The response was quick and clear, something Bill felt thankful for. It was obvious the kid was focused on playing his part as quickly but carefully as possible, his small frame carefully maneuvering around strings as he made his way deeper into the room.

“I told you sister, it is as I feared.” The one at the koto said.

“Patience sister. Forgive us Lord Cipher, but as you have already stated we serve the Axolotl. It was by his request that protect this book from you.” The one with the flute responded.

“You can stop the act, we all know where we stand here. Your master doesn’t respect my existence, and I most certainly don’t respect his. Tell me, do the lot of you get some sick enjoyment out of caging that woman in this dimension?”

“How dare you!” the girl before the koto that Bill had simply dubbed Strings in his head shouted, standing up threateningly. “Watch your words dream demon or you’ll dearly regret it!”

“Calm yourself!” Flute (Bill’s name for the other) hissed out standing up. It was in this single motion that the façade of humanity was broken. As the woman rose her robes parted to reveal that instead of a pair of human legs she unfurled the long, many legged body of a centipede blown to gigantic proportions. Her face split open at her mouth, powerful fangs quickly growing out of the sides into a pair of mandibles. Bill felt a small wave of mental panic syphon into him from Dipper, but it was immediately replaced with determination. Bill couldn’t help but sneak a glance at the kid, satisfaction laying in when he saw how close he was to the altar. Just a little more. He quickly focused back as Flute turned back to him, continuing.

“As you are now she is none of your business, Cipher.” The insectoid woman hissed, her voice laced with odd clicking sounds and her fangs clacked together. “I had hoped that we would meet one day when you were reformed and ready to help calm her. She dreams of you fondly from time to time, of those chaotic years of destruction the two of you wrought. In your collective sin no one else could understand her better. She might listen to one such as you.”

Bill looked at the woman in absolute disbelief before breaking into maniacal laughter.

“Oh, oh, this is too good! You seriously think I’d ever help you try to calm a demon of destruction? Forgive me, but I haven’t heard a better joke in centuries. Especially since it’s your slimy master’s fault in the first place!” Bill nearly screamed in utter amusement. “She never would have even so much as looked at me, let alone joined me in creating chaos, if it weren’t for you lot killing her soul mate. The Axolotl should have thought twice before angering something more powerful than he is! It’s not me she’s dreaming of, but of the sweet freedom to have revenge.”

The two women bristled at his response, their anger obvious. Bill knew it was bad to provoke them, that he was taking unnecessary risks in doing so but he really couldn’t believe it. He never thought anyone who knew him, and his true nature would ever be so foolish as to entertain the thought that he might try to help calm any chaotic storm if requested. It was too rich not to laugh and poke fun. His mirth quickly ceased though as he saw both women had transformed into their insect-like forms and were in front of the altar looking ready to attack and strike him down.

“We had hoped that this could be settled peacefully, that we could convince you to leave well enough alone and face the trials ahead of you instead.” Said one. It was said with literal venom as a green viscous liquid dripped from freakish fangs.

“But it is obvious you will not be denied. You cannot be allowed to have this book. For the last time leave now or we will put an end to you, deal with our master or not.” Said the other, equally menacing.

_Bill! A bunch of those magic strings are connected to the book!_

Well shit. There was no avoiding it, he’d have to fight them. But first he had to attend to the kid.

_Pine Tree when I say to just grab it and run. I’ll cover you. Grab that bag of yours when you get down the stairs and run straight for the exit. You’ll be safe as soon as you exit the fence threshold._

_Ok, got it!_

 “Honestly, this didn’t have to be this hard. All you had to do was give me the damn book.” Bill said before snapping his fingers abruptly.

_Now kid!_

As soon as Dipper yanked the book from the altar half of the room was set alight in Bill’s blue flames, magical threaded traps burning away. The monstrous twins screamed angrily, turning quickly to see the human that had escaped their sight up until then. Dipper began to sprint for all he was worth, clutching the book tightly, as one tried to dive at him. Just as he thought it would crash into to him it was suddenly wrenched to the side, narrowly avoiding him. Odd white and red hands had burst from the floor and grabbed it, just barely managing to pull it far enough away from the boy.

“I thought you said it was me you wanted to put an end to!” Bill shouted, putting himself between them and Dipper. “Come and get me!”

The twins focused back on him, feral growls emitting from them. The one that had been grabbed struggled against her restraints, making quick work of them, their form shattering at the focused resistance.

_Get running kid, I can’t stop them long!_

Dipper bolted at that, quickly making a break for the door. The women made a move to give chase, but Bill set flame to the exit as soon as the boy passed through. Seeing this, they quickly turned their priority back to Bill, one lunging for him. He gracefully dodged this way and that as it repeatedly lunged and slashed at him, trying to grab him. While he dodged he tried to look around, the other having disappeared in the chaos as fire licked at the room and furniture was crashed into and knocked over. He could tell from how only one attacked him and with seemingly no strategy that they were up to something, but what he couldn’t be too sure of.

_Bill I’m almost out, where are you!?_

_About time!_ Bill thought back screamingly as he quickly twisted himself away from an exceptionally fast strike. He started to position himself to the door so that he could get away, careful not to turn his sight away from the stringing insect. Just as he was about to cross the threshold he felt something stop his movement. His eye flicked to see what had stopped him only to be filled with dread. He had been caught in some sort of magical web. He struggled a little, trying to free himself. When that didn’t work he snapped his fingers, trying to summon his fire to burn it away. As soon as he did he let out a screech of pain as he felt a sharp pain run through him and the energy he had put behind his attempt drain away in the ether.

“What!?” He shouted angrily. He had known that they could create webs despite not being spiders, but not ones this strong. That it could harm him and drain away his magic was beyond his expectations. “What the hell is this!?”

The woman that had been attacked him up to that point was crouched down, looking ready to strike at any second; however, she remained in that position unmoving. Her twin joined her, slithering underneath him as she came from her hiding spot behind the doors. The two appraised him hungrily, not saying a word, as their fangs clacked together.

“Nothing in existence will miss you. Goodbye, Bill Cipher.” One said, finally breaking the silence.

The crouched sister sprung forward at him, her odd disjointed maw wide and ready to bite into the trapped demon. Faced with those jaws Bill clamped his eye shut and tried to struggle even though he knew it was futile. He cursed the Axolotl, cursed everything, as he felt a part of himself resign to jaws of fate.

His expectations weren’t met however, as he felt something warm and soft crash into him pushing him away. His eye shot open to understand what had just happened as he was sent spinning through the air. Turning his eye widened, a torrent of emotions hitting him. There, now skewered with fangs, was Dipper.

“P҉̶͜͜I̶̶̕N͡E̶̛ ̵̡̧̧̢T̷͝RE̕͢͞E͘͘!̕҉̴” Bill screamed as the woman dropped him to the ground. The soft thud of the kid hitting the floor triggered something in Bill and suddenly he was releasing waves of power he didn’t know he even still had, contorting reality itself in his anger. The space of the room was suddenly incomprehensible and twisted and where the woman had been near Dipper she was now somewhere else entirely. Gravity contorted with the space and the laws of physics seemed to stop functioning completely.

Bill was at Dipper’s side in an instant, eye twitching up and down his bloodied form. The brunt of the attack had hit him on his right side, deep gashes along his side and chest. The wounds themselves were bad enough but Bill could see traces of venom around the edges.

“Kid, say something!” Bill said frantically, laying his flat on his back.

The boy coughed weakly, traces of blood mixing with spit. He cracked his eyes open and smiled lopsidedly. “I thought you said pain was hilarious.” The boy managed to choke out, his words punctuated by more coughing.

“Yeah kid, that’s the spirit.” Bill said back voice cracking. “Let’s get you patched up, yeah? Then we’ll go back to the shack and laugh ourselves senseless.”

Dipper tried to laugh, the sound quickly turning into coughing. He shook his head, closing his eyes. “Get out of here Bill. Just please tell Mabel I love her and that I’m sorry.”

“Uh uh, Pine Tree, a deals’ a deal. You don’t get to die!” Bill shot back, focusing his magic into the wounds. He had precious little left and as he began to focus it into healing the boy he could already feel reality trying to fight against his will and reorient itself in to something cohesive. Healing on top of maintaining the twisted space and broken laws of physics was just too much. He heard a screech behind him as his magic knit together torn flesh. Now wasn’t the time to be healing Dipper, but if he didn’t the kid would definitely die. He did his best to erect a shield over them, knowing the monstrous women were still trying to finish the job. It was a weak attempt at best, but he’d be damned if he just let Dipper die, he needed the kid alive.

He grunted as he felt the impact of two bodies hit into his shield. He could already could the seconds before it broke but he desperately tried to maintain it while still healing. He completely let go of his control of the space around them, pumping the extra energy into healing Dipper faster. Without his magic stabilizing the chaos it had caused the room was shifting and crumbling. He felt sharp fangs and claws matter against his magic, cracks beginning to form.

Suddenly the sound of bells echoed through the room, everything seeming to freeze in the noise.

**T** **̷̧** **h** **̵͜** **a** **̵̕** **t** **̡̨҉̷** **'** **̵̢͠** **s** **̸͘͜** **̸̧͢͝** **e** **̴͡** **n** **̢̕͢** **o** **̢͘͝** **u** **̡͏̕** **g** **̴̧̨** **h** **̴̵̢̨** **!** **̶͜**

A voice that sounded like many people, both male and female, at once spoke, echoing about the broken space. At a distance from them all was an odd tear in the space that Bill knew he had not caused. It looked into a darkness with soft floating blue light, the sound of water lapping a shore emitting from it. From it a ghost-like figure appeared. No details could be made from the form other than it was humanoid in shape, it’s white ethereal form fading around it’s legs. The figure seemed to look around for a moment before it spied whatever it was searching for. As the structure of reality groaned back into shape the altar had returned to a reachable state. The figure traversed over to it silently, before stopping before it. The items that had been on it had been knocked about and thrown to the floor. The figure bent down, carefully picking up the skull and cradling it close. There was untold gentleness and significance to the gesture, a ritual Bill had seen many times.

“No! How can this be!?” One of the women shouted. The two immediately abandoned their attack on Bill, turning their attention to the ghost.

“Quickly sister! It is not too late, only her mind has awoken.” The other said firmly, lunging forward.

Her twin quickly joined her, leaping forward, fangs and claws ready. As the two converged on the ghost they wrapped their many legged lower bodies around it as though they were trying to constrict it like a snake. There was a momentary flicker of white light before the women were thrown back with great force into the wall.

**“** **I** **̶̨** **̸͟͟** **c** **͘** **an** **̶̴͝** **n** **e** **̶̵̡** **i** **̧** **t** **̶̨** **h** **̧** **e** **̴̨** **r** **͟͠** **͘͜** **m** **̡** **o** **̧** **u** **҉͢** **r** **̷͜** **n** **͏̷͢** **͢** **n** **͏** **o** **̡̢͠** **r d** **̷̡** **r** **̨** **e** **̵** **a** **̴͢͠** **m** **̶** **̛͡** **i** **̷̛** **n** **̸** **͞** **p** **̵** **ea** **̧** **c** **̶͞** **e** **͜͏** **,** **̴̴** **h** **̸͝** **o** **̶͘** **w** **̷** **̶** **I** **͢** **͢** **d** **̵** **e** **̶͝** **s** **͢͝** **p** **̛͘** **i** **s** **̶** **e** **͟͏͞** **̢** **al** **҉** **l** **͡** **o** **̵** **f** **̧͘** **͡** **e** **̨͟** **xi** **̡͢** **s** **t** **̨͞** **e** **̧͠** **n** **̸̧** **c** **̢̢** **e** **̢̧** **.** **҉** **̢** **C** **̷͏̡** **u** **̵̢̨** **r** **se** **͏͘** **̸̶** **t** **̴̛͡** **he** **̛** **͘** **l** **͘** **ot** **̧** **̶̨** **o** **̡̕** **f** **̴̨͢** **̧** **y** **̡** **o** **u** **͞** **̸̧͝** **a** **͞** **n** **͏** **҉** **d** **̕** **t** **̧̛** **h** **͢͞** **e** **҉̛** **̷̛͞** **A** **̢͢** **xo** **̶͟** **l** **̢** **ot** **̷** **l** **̴͢** **.** **̛͏͝** **I** **̡** **̷** **h** **͞** **a** **͢** **v** **̡͠** **e** **҉** **̧̡͞** **n** **o** **̡͜** **̸̨͘** **l** **o** **̨͡** **v** **̷̶** **e** **̷** **fo** **͝** **҉** **r a** **̡** **n** **͟** **y** **͏** **͠͞** **o** **̵̕** **҉** **f** **͏** **̴͞** **y** **̧̧** **o** **̧** **u** **͜͝** **̷̡** **b** **u** **҉͡** **t** **̡͜** **̧** **t** **̵** **h** **̨** **a** **͜͏** **t** **͜** **y** **̷** **o** **͞͞͠** **u** **͟** **͡** **d** **͘** **e** **̧** **ig** **͏̢** **n** **̧̕** **̕** **t** **̢͢** **o** **͝** **̕** **st** **͟** **e** **̸̨** **a** **̨** **҉** **l** **̧** **͡** **anot** **̛͘** **h** **̴̷͢** **e** **͜** **r** **s** **̕** **o** **҉** **u** **̛̛** **l** **͠** **҉̧** **m** **̡͠** **a** **̡̡** **t** **̨͏͝** **e** **͠** **̷̛͘** **r** **̨̛** **i** **̛** **g** **̨̢͞** **h** **̴̕͠** **t** **̷̡͡** **i** **̴̴͏** **n** **̶̛** **̸** **f** **҉̸͞** **r** **͜** **on** **͏** **t** **͟͝** **͜͏̴** **o** **͢** **f** **͟** **m** **͏͝** **e** **̨** **.** **̛** **I** **̸͜** **͘** **w** **̶** **o** **͜** **n** **͏** **'** **͝** **҉̵** **t** **̢** **҉̕** **A** **L** **͠** **L** **̨͜** **O** **̧** **W** **͡** **̶** **I** **̵̧** **T** **͜** **!** **͏͠** ”

The ghost stretched it’s hand out towards the pair, it’s hand clenched as though it was strangling something. The two monstrous women immediately made strangled gasping sounds as they were strangled by some invisible force. Their pained choking seemed to last forever until they were finally still.

Bill did nothing but look on as it happened, still letting what precious little magic he had left heal Dipper. Once the figure finished it turn it’s ‘gaze’ upon them. It stood still for a moment, as if deciding what to do, before moving to them.

“M̨ove͞ ͝as͝ide̶ Çi̛pher. ͘Muc͡h ҉mơr͠e a̢nd̵ ͡y̧ou will͟ ͞d͏ie.” The many voices joined into one were softer now, no longer laced with hatred.

“No.” He said, eying it suspiciously. He knew he had nothing to fear but some odd part of him didn’t want it to touch the kid. He didn’t want anyone to. Had he been more clear-minded in that moment he might have questioned what the hell he was thinking, but as it stood he was drained almost completely and was relying more on base instinct than thought.

“I ͞wil̵l n͜o͠t h҉a͜rm ͢him ̸Ci͞ph̨er.͝ Pleas̷e le̵t mȩ ̶h͡e̢l̨p. ҉Yo̸u͡ a͝re no̡t rȩa͞dy ͏to҉ d҉i̶e̵.̴”

“Fine. Be quick.” Despite what he said though he did not stop.

The figured nodded and crouched down beside him, putting its ghostly hand to the boy. Silver light danced into Bill’s own blue flames, easing its way gently into the middle and sinking into barely closed wounds. Bill felt as it took over the brunt of the work, quickly coursing through every inch of the boy, hunting down poison and knitting flesh and bone back together stronger than Bill had been able to manage. Once he felt that the wounds were almost completely healed he stopped, feeling himself droop. He began to shrink in size until he could have fit in Dipper’s palm. He couldn’t even make himself float as he preferred to, electing to simply lean against the now sleeping boy.

The figure looked down at him. “Y͜ou ̴h̢a͜ve a lon͡g̛ ro҉a͡d̡ ahe͟ad ̧ơf͟ ͞you, d̶on't̶ you͠ Ci҉phe̛r?͏”

“Shut up.”

The figure chuckled lightly before placing the skull down gently beside him. “̶Ta͝ke͘ it,͠ ͞s̶o҉m̡e̶day̛ ͜yo̢u̴ ͟m̛ay ͡need ҉i̸t. ̧”

“Goodie, just what I always wanted, a dead human’s skull.”

He was answered with another chuckle before the figure stood back up, moving towards the rift that had remained in the now destroyed room.

“G̸ood l̨u̧c҉k͞ ̡C͜iphe͞r.”

The figure entered the rift and in the blink of an eye everything was gone. The rift, the house, all of it. Dipper and Bill lay in a field with nothing, save a pack stuffed full of books and a skull.


	7. Faint Embers before the Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the continued comments and kudos. When I started this I was incredibly shy about it and I'm so happy people seem to be enjoying it. Say hello to our odd antagonists. I hope you find them interesting. 
> 
> Comments, kudos, and feedback always welcomed and loved with all my heart.

Dipper groaned and turned on his side, trying to escape something poking him on his cheek. Despite his efforts whatever it was continued. “Mabel stop it...” He grumbled groggily.

“Schmebulock.”

Dipper’s eye shot open at the familiar voice. Beside him was the all too recognizable gnome, staring at him questioningly. The gnome backed off as he groaned and pulled himself up in a sitting position, looking around. He was in the clearing that the house had been in, but the house was missing. So was Bill for that matter. That was strange.  He nervously looked down at himself, remembering he had been all but dead before he blacked out. He saw stains of blood on his shirt and skin, but no actual wounds. That was odd. He guessed that Bill had managed to heal him, though how he couldn’t be sure. He had honestly expected them to both die when he blacked out.

“Schmebulock.” The gnome said beside him, pulling him out of his thoughts. The gnome waved a little before scurrying off, seemingly satisfied that Dipper was awake.  

Dipper frowned, looking around again. The late afternoon sun beat down on him as he quickly located his bag. With that sorted other thoughts came to the forefront of his mind. What happened? Where was Bill? Had he ditched him?

“Bill?” He called, confused.

“No need to shout Pine Tree.” Came a small squeaky voice.

“Bill?” He said again looking around. “Where are you? Are you ok?”

“Down here Pine Tree.”

Dipper looked down at the ground beside him. He was shocked to see a tiny version of the triangle demon no bigger than his hand lying flat on the ground, eye shut. He was confused at first, but he also couldn’t help but feel delight from seeing the demon so tiny. He couldn’t help himself and burst into laughter.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, don’t thank me for saving your miserable short life.” The demon huffed out sulkily.

Dipper did his best to stifle his laughter as he looked down at the demon and smiled. “Ok, ok, I’m sorry. Thanks Bill. What happened? I thought we were goners.”

Bill didn’t answer for a while. Just as Dipper started to suspect he was being ignored Bill suddenly asked him a question, completely ignoring his own.

“Why’d you do it Pine Tree?”

“Do what?”

“You know what I’m talking about, don’t play dumb Pine Tree. You had no reason to try and save me. If I died the deal would be broken and you could just go home, and everything would have been great for you. I don’t get it.”

Dipper paused. Bill was absolutely right, he had no reason to help the demon. But he knew if he was forced to do it again he would have done the exact same thing. Thinking for a second, he chose his words carefully.

“You said it yourself, right? A deals’ a deal. Like it or not you’re part of the family now. The second your magic was severed from me I knew something was up, so I came back to see what was wrong. I really wasn’t expecting you to be in trouble. When I saw you like that I knew I had to do something, but I mean, I wasn’t looking to sacrifice myself to save you or anything. It’s just when I saw you just kind of give up I just moved without thinking. You’re supposed to be the all-powerful demon that’s tormented me all summer, it’s not right to see you just give up.”

Bill opened his eye, silently regarding Dipper. Dipper scratched the back of his head, fidgeting under the prolonged scrutiny. Finally, Bill sighed, looking away.

“Thanks Pine Tree…” The demon squeaked out quietly, quickly trailing off into silence again.

Dipper could hardly believe his ears. He expected snarky comments, not gratitude. A part of him wanted to immediately make comment on it but the somehow distant look Bill had held him back. Instead he gathered up his bag and carefully picked Bill up.

“What do you say we head home?” He said, smiling warmly.

“Yeah, sounds good.” Bill said, eye closed again. “Oh, don’t forget my party favor.”

“Party favor?” Dipper asked back, brow furrowing.

“The skull.”

“Wait what?!”

~

The hike home was quiet. The sun had started to set and was almost gone by the time they exited the woods in front of the Mystery Shack. The temperature had cooled off a bit and Dipper was more than a little happy to be back home. He was beat from all the hiking and the insanity that happened in the house. As he made his way inside he heard Stan snoring from the living room, the tv still on. Dipper chuckled quietly to himself before heading upstairs. Setting his bag down on his bed he noted that Mabel didn’t seem to be around. He reached up to his hat, once again carefully picking up the resting demon he had set there while he hiked home. Bill didn’t respond or make any movement.

“You ok Bill?” He asked.

Bill’s eye opened lethargically and seemed to be somewhat unfocused. “Yeah I’m ok kid.”

“Is there anywhere you want to be? I can leave you up here while I get dinner, or you can stay on my hat. Or I guess if you really want I’ll let you back into my head.” Dipper said, feeling oddly sympathetic towards the demon. He was not used to this kind of Bill and while he was easier to handle like this, it just didn’t seem right somehow.

“Just leave me up here for now.”

“Alright. I’ll check up on you later then.” Dipper said placing Bill down on the bed. When he got no answer back he left the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Dipper was in the kitchen staring at the food in the fridge when Ford entered.

“Hey Dipper.” He said, trying to sound jovial. His voice betrayed him however, obvious exhaustion in it. “I haven’t seen you all day.”

“Hi Great Uncle Ford.” Dipper said back smiling. “Yeah I was out exploring. Bill showed me this neat house that was hidden out there. By the way have you seen Mabel?”

Ford’s face instantly dropped at the mention of Bill. “You went somewhere with Bill? You trusted him?!”

“Of course, not Great Uncle Ford.” Dipper shot back immediately. “I know better than to trust him completely. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious. If you don’t mind waiting a minute, I’ll tell you all about it. I haven’t eaten since this morning.”

“Alright. I’ll be down in the study whenever you’re ready. Oh and your sister is staying over at her friend’s house tonight. Stanley also sulked off somewhere so it’s just us tonight.” Ford said, his own curiosity having been peaked. He grabbed the coffee he had come for and returned to his private study. Dipper wasn’t long behind him, having made himself a simple sandwich. Once they had both gotten comfortable Dipper began his tale, Ford sometimes asking questions and other times just silently listening, obviously thinking. Dipper for his part was careful to exclude the part where he almost died, instead making it out to be a near miss prevented thanks to Bill, and saying he blacked out from hitting his head too hard against the floor. Ford was already on edge about Bill, he didn’t need anything extra to strain the already tenuous relationship that he seemed to be forming with the demon. He understood why his great uncle was so warry of Bill but today he had seen a different side of him. It made him wonder how things would be in the coming weeks.

“So, these journals are upstairs? Can I see them?”

“Yeah sure.” Dipper said. “But uh, if it’s ok I do want to get them back. They were pretty hard to get a hold of and I think I earned them.”

“Of course.” Ford said, a warm smile on his face. “I just want to take a look at them. Their mysteries are for you to solve.”

“Alright, I’ll go get them. I need to check up on Bill anyways.”

Ford looked at him confused.

“Oh, I guess I forgot to mention it.” Dipper said quickly as he hopped up from his seat. “The whole fight seems to have taken a lot out of him. When I came to he was no bigger than my hand and didn’t seem inclined to move around on his own. I could barely even get him to talk when normally he won’t shut up.”

Dipper made his way to the elevator, failing to see the shocked look on his uncle’s face. Ford couldn’t help it. He was always amazed by how quickly his grand niece and nephew adapted to any situation. He was still very much struggling with the whole concept of having Bill around and now he was apparently so weak he wouldn’t move or talk. He had never seen Bill display any weakness before and he really almost didn’t believe it was possible.

It didn’t take long for Dipper to reach the attic. Careful to open the door quietly, he walked in towards his bed. As he went to grab his bag he looked where he had put Bill earlier. The demon was still there but was slight obscured by blankets. He had somehow managed to nestle himself into the blankets a bit and seemed to be relaxed. Dipper thought about asking if he was awake but that was quickly followed by the question of did demons even sleep? Thinking better of bothering him, he just grabbed his bag up and headed back downstairs to resume talking to Ford.

~

Bill was miserable. He had never in his entire existence felt this drained of energy. If he didn’t know better he’d be certain that any second he would simply wink out of existence entirely. It came with the deep urge to draw in energy to himself, something that normally came like breathing did to humans. But no matter how hard he tried nothing came, not even the miniscule amount of magic that was latent Gravity Falls. He could only assume that it had to do with the Axolotl screwing with him. It was probably just as well though, if he was able to he wasn’t sure he could limit his intake and he imagined Pine Tree and his family wouldn’t be pleased if everything living in a 5-mile radius except them suddenly died and crumbled to dust.

So instead he snuggled into the warmth around him, the feeling a small comfort in a sea of misery. He wasn’t capable of sleep, but he did shut down some of his sense when he wanted to ‘rest’. Such was the case now, keeping only a slight awareness of any noises or movement near him. He noticed when Dipper came in and grabbed his pack but didn’t care enough to do anything. With the kid gone everything lapsed back into silence and stayed that way for a long time. Normally he hated peace and quiet but for once he felt like he could appreciate it.

Eventually though, Dipper returned to the room, pack slung over his shoulder. He dropped the bag on the floor and walked over to the bed before venturing to speak.

“You awake Bill?”

“Demons don’t sleep kid.” Bill replied grumpily, annoyed at the breaking of the silence. He didn’t even bother to open his eye.

“Could have fooled me.” Dipper said, chuckling. “It’s gotten pretty late so I’m gonna go to sleep. Did you want to rest in my mindscape or anything like that?”

“I can’t even if I wanted to in this state Pine Tree. Put me where ever, just make sure that damned pig can’t reach me.”

Where the blankets had been comfortable the warmth of Dipper’s skin was even nicer as he picked Bill up and set him a little to the side so that he could get in bed. Bill almost lamented the absence of the warm when Dipper let him go but didn’t give voice to it. He was already completely out of his comfort zone and didn’t need to add to it by asking for something so awkward as to touch the kid. Dipper made himself comfortable, making sure to be careful of where he set Bill. Once he settled in he looked at the demon.

“Tomorrow’s the big day huh? You change into a human.”

“Yeah…” Bill finally opened his eye, slowly focusing in on Dipper. “Pine Tree, can I say something?”

Dipper raised an eyebrow. “Uh sure. You ok though, it’s not like you to ask permission.”

“You’ll probably find it unpleasant is why.”

“Oh. Well, still, go ahead.”

“I just wanted to warn you to be careful. You remember when I possessed you?”

“How could I ever forget?”

“Well the only reason I could do that is because you do have some resentment in you for that precious family of yours.”

“I-!” Dipper sat up, trying to deny it.

“Don’t pretend kid. We both know your family is selfish.” Bill cut in. “I’m not saying you don’t care about them, I’m just saying feelings like that are easy to take advantage of. I’m not the only thing out there ready to use them and manipulate you. So just be careful.”

Dipper laid back down, letting out a sigh of defeat. He knew it wasn’t bad advice. He just didn’t want to admit to such negative feelings. A heavy wave of exhaustion washed over him, and he decided that was enough conversation. He turned out the light and rolled over onto his side.

“Goodnight Bill.” He said.

“Goodnight Pine Tree.”

~

Gideon sat at the table violently scribbling in red on his paper. He was in his art therapy class in prison wondering what was taking Bill so long to free him. What was the point in making the whole deal if Bill didn’t follow through on his end? It pissed him off to no end. It had not been easy to put aside his pride and ask the demon for help. What’s more Bill made Gideon deeply uneasy. Gideon was no saint, he knew that about himself, but there was something that lay under Bill’s banter and insanity that went beyond what he thought he was capable of himself. He grabbed a black marker and began scribbling a triangle into the collage of his enemies. The quiet of the room was interrupted abruptly as the door swung open and a guard stepped in.

“Gideon Gleeful!” The guard shouted looking around the room trying to pick him out of the other convicts.

The chubby boy dropped down from his chair and walked over.

“And what can I do for you officer?” He said doing his best to be charming as always.

“Come with me.” The man said gruffly before turning.

Gideon’s brow furrowed at that, but he followed none the less. The guard led him to a room he hadn’t seen before. It was a plain room with just a table and some chairs. The guard directed him in and simply shut the door behind him without a word. Confused he took a seat and waited for an explanation.

It was a good 15 minutes before anything happened, but at last a woman entered the room, gently closing the door behind her. She was a mild mannered looking woman, average in size and appearance with shoulder length brunette hair and glasses on a soft round face. Her attire marked her as a professional, perhaps a lawyer or a doctor of some kind, Gideon wasn’t certain. She took a seat across from Gideon, smiling politely.

“Hello, Mister Gleeful.” She said, her voice light and kind sounding. “My name is Verdandi, Verdandi Norn. I have good news for you today.”

“Well hello Miss Norn. And what would that be?” he said his voice dripping with feigned innocence.

 “You’ll be leaving today.” Someone cut in as the door banged open. The person that walked in immediately confused Gideon. An odd mixture of both masculine and feminine features, the person looked to be in their 20s. They had sharp facial features framed by messy bangs that filled out into luxurious long black hair that almost reached their ankles. They sported a wide grin and deep green eyes that looked as though they were constantly making calculations as they darted around quickly before settling on Gideon. Dressed in a simple black shirt and fade skinny jeans they were tall and lithe, one would almost say fragile looking, but they carried themselves with utmost confidence. They casually leaned against the wall and chuckled as Verdandi stood up, obviously flustered.

“R-Ren! I thought you said you were going to stay in the car.” She stuttered out.

“I got bored.” Ren said shrugging. “Besides, you’re so stuffy and boring, you’ll make me wait forever. If I’m here, you’ll speed things up.

“Pardon me, I hate to interrupt but did I just hear you say I’m leaving?” Gideon said excitedly.

“Ahem, yes, excuse me.” Verdandi quickly said returning to her seat. She pointed ignored the continuing chuckles. “You see, we share a certain… business partner. His plans changed but he wanted us to take care of some of the loose threads.”

“You don’t mean…” Gideon started, hardly believing it. He had given up hope on the deal. It was different as originally promised but he’d take what he could get right now. Anything to get out of the hell hole called prison.

“Yup that’s right!” Ren sang in a high-pitched tone. “The mighty Cipher had a change of plans so we’re his damn errand boys today.”

“Uhm… excuse me but might I ask you a question?” Gideon said brow furrowed.

“Yeah sure, go for it.” Ren said smirking.

“Forgive me for being so blunt but are you a man or a woman?”

Ren walked over to Gideon, a small swing to their hips. As they got closer Gideon felt himself begin to blush as he felt warm breath near his ear.

“Tell me, what do you want me to be?” Ren whispered, voice smooth as silk. “Man, woman, it doesn’t matter, whatever you want creampuff.”

“Wh-!” Gideon shouted falling back, face a bright red.

Ren immediately doubled over laughing loudly. They were laughing so hard they began to gasp for breath between laughs, tears forming in their eye. Gideon glared at them, instantly deciding he disliked this odd person. If it weren’t for the fact that they seemed to be responsible for helping him leave he would be shouting.

“Ren Hel! Your mother gave you expressed orders to behave and treat our new guest with respect.” Verdandi shouted as she rushed over to help Gideon up.

“Oh, come on, I’m not even allowed to have a little fun? And don’t fucking call me by that stupid last name.” Ren said, changing from laughter to pouting in seconds. Verdandi simply glared back. The staring match went on for a minute before Ren finally backed down.

“Fine, fine. Look creampuff, if it makes you feel better just call me a guy. I’m kind of a special case so neither’s really correct.” Ren said leaning back against the wall again with a huff. He was clearly sulking and refused to look either of them in the eyes. “It doesn’t really matter.”

“With that out of the way, if I may, I’d like to return to the topic at hand.” Verdandi interjected quickly as she helped Gideon to his feet. “All the paper work has been worked out and as soon as we get the ok you’ll be free.”

“Really?” Gideon said, his eyes shining with happiness.

“Don’t get too excited creampuff, there’s always strings attached.” Ren said.

Gideon looked at Verdandi, the question on his lips obvious.

“Yes, well, the details can be worked out once you meet Miss Hel. Today you’ll come home with us and tomorrow you may meet her. She would meet you today, but unfortunately, she’s quite busy. After the meeting you’re welcome to either stay with the Hel family or return to your own.”

“Oh ok…” Gideon said feeling on edge. He couldn’t help but wonder what he was getting into. But then, he had tried to make a deal with a demon to get free, how much worse could it honestly be? He eyed Ren, the black-haired man (god he was so confused about that) still pouting childishly and refusing to look at either of them. He made a mental note to avoid the guy like the plague.

The door opened, and a guard asked to speak to Verdandi. As she stepped outside, Ren returned his gaze to Gideon, another smirk on his face.

“Hope you enjoyed your vacation here, cause once you’re out of here you’ll be busy.”

Gideon scoffed at that. Oh, he was ready. So ready. And once he was reoriented he would get his revenge.


	8. Losing my Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, I'm not dead. I know everyone doesn't want to hear a bunch of excuses why this took so long, so I'll just say depression and life has been in my way. Anyways there is a cipher in this one, but I promise it's easy. I'll give away the secret to solving it at the end. But even if you don't solve it, it's not really that important, just a fun little add in.  
> Sorry for the long wait, please enjoy, and thank you to everyone who reads it.

It was 1 am and Stan was sitting in a grungy bar on the edge of town staring into a large mug of beer. He hadn’t gone drinking since the kids had come for the summer and he had honestly been thankful for their presence. He knew drinking to odd hours of the night and then coming home drunk and depressed wasn’t a good thing, but it was only once the twins were around that he had the will to break the habit. He had made sure all summer to avoid any alcohol. But that went out the window today.

The day had been rough to say the least. It started with a disagreement with Ford. They both had their own ideas for how to break the news to the twin’s parents. Ford wanted to approach it with honesty and his usual nerdy explanations while Stan was convinced that they should just outright lie. They both knew neither of them was truly fit to be guardians to two rambunctious preteens. It put them both on edge and scrambling to figure out how best to deal with the entire situation. Ultimately it came down to a combination of lies by omission, Ford being the obnoxious genius that he was. Oh, and Mabel. Dipper had been missing at the time, but Mabel had been there ready to talk and back up her uncles. They had been lucky that Mabel was there to calm down two very worried parents.

He sighed before taking a large gulp of beer. The last few days hung heavily on his mind.

That first night after Dipper had made the deal had been an unpleasant one to say the least. An entire night of arguing and trying to figure out how it had come to this. Stan nursed deep resentment in his heart towards his brother, not only because he had spent the majority of his life trying to fix his mistake without so much as a thank you in return, but also because he had made Ford promise to keep away from the kids. He had spent all summer trying to protect the kids from the insanity that lurked around the town but had failed because he finally managed to accomplish the one thing he had spent years trying to do. Ford’s interests were dangerous, and he was the one who delivered the kids right into that danger. He blamed Ford, but more than anyone he blamed himself. With the ensuing fight that night the resentment and anger drove the wedge even deeper between him and his twin, leaving him feeling lonelier than ever.

With a forlorn expression he downed the rest of his drink. Despite his misery he quietly resolved to never go out drinking again. He might have failed to protect the kids once, but he would never let that happen again. Until they figured out how to fix things he would be the best damn guardian possible to Dipper and Mabel he could possibly be. Placing money on the counter he slowly made his way back home.

~

Bill stared at the ceiling as the light of early morning began to filter in through the attic window. He listened to the quiet steady breaths of the sleeping boy beside him, his mind wandering about. Today was the day and he was already regretting all his choices. He had miscalculated. He had gone into this plan not knowing that the damned Pines boy was his soul mate. It was understandable, the boy wasn’t of age yet and so the connection hadn’t manifested to it’s full power. But now that he had been made aware of it little things he had done made a lot more sense. From the start he had been drawn to Dipper and felt the need to influence him to his desires. At the time he had insisted to himself it was just the most convenient way to achieve his plans, but now he could feel it, the cloying claustrophobic feeling of another filling the jagged emptiness inside of him. He didn’t want this, he didn’t want any of this.

Uncomfortable tendrils of emotion were burrowing their way deeply into him every second he was around the kid and the longer it went on the harder it would be to sever that connection. Even now he could feel himself yearning to preserve the tiny life beside him forever and not just for the sake of convenience, a disgusting prospect that was antithesis to being a demon. Demons aren’t supposed to have soul mates, and if they ever do they kill them. A soul mate meant having a weakness, a fact a demon simply could not allow. Weakness meant you were prey and Bill was never going to be underneath anyone in the proverbial food chain. He wished that wretched demoness hadn’t said anything or had let him die. He felt played. He was certain the Axolotl knew from the beginning. Humiliation and frustration burned through his tiny tired form and he had no way to release. He wanted to scream as loudly as he could manage but even that option was gone for fear of interrupting the peacefully slumbering boy.

As he ruminated he felt the familiar sensation of his least favorite conversation partner.

“Go away.” He whispered.

_You all but called me with your anger but then tell me to leave?_

“You knew didn’t you!” He felt ridiculous as he whisper-yelled.

_Yes. Are you implying that this constitutes cheating?_

“Of course, it does.” Bill hissed. “You have no intention on actually making good on your end of the bargain, do you?”

_That is not so Cipher. Yes, indeed Dipper Pines is your soul mate, but tell me what does that mean to you? What hinderance is that to your success in the coming trials? I assure you that the connection you two have will be a boon._

“Fine, let’s assume what you say is true. Isn’t this just an underhanded way to try and tame me?”

_What this boy ultimately means to you Cipher, is still entirely up to you. Demons kill soulmates all the time. If you succeed you’ll be returned to your true form. I would recommend that you worry more about the trials ahead, especially since you have put many obstacles in your own way._

“Yeah whatever you say. Even if I wanted to, I can’t back out now.” He said glaring at the ceiling. “Besides you haven’t even said what happens if I fail, not that I will.”

_It is my hope that it does not come to that. If you can’t pass the trials, you’ll have proved yourself incapable of changing in any way and thus will be wiped from existences._

Bill felt bitter, unhinged laughter escape him, unable to hold it in any longer. Every choice was just a farce, the Axolotl would have his way or kill him. He was tired of the games, tired of being told what to do, tired of everyone having the same small worthless hopes and dreams. What was the point in such a restricted existence? He wanted the sweet freedom of chaos to envelope him in the meaningless of it all, but to have that he had to continue to be patient. He wondered if he would have to wait forever, certainly it felt that way. A deep despair bit at him at the very thought, a despair that tempted him to simply end himself. It would be easy in this state, but it would be like admitting defeat.

“Bill?” Dipper’s sleep leaden voice asked, quieting Bill’s laughter.

“Ah, sorry Pine Tree, did I wake you?” he said flatly. Of course he had, who wouldn’t wake up at a maniac’s laughter? Better to pretend than actually talk though.

“Yeah, everything ok?” he asked turning a little towards the demon.

“Yeah, yeah everything’s alright. Just thought of something funny is all.”

Dipper raised an eyebrow, obviously doubting what he said. It was a flimsy lie at best, but Bill just didn’t have it in him to call upon a well-crafted lie like he usually would.

“If you say so.” Dipper mumbled back, feeling oddly disappointed. He knew there was more to it than that, but if Bill didn’t want to talk about it so be it. He sat up and stretched, looking over to the window. The warm light of morning was streaming through welcoming in a new day. He looked over to Bill, the demon laying where he had left him last night, large eye half lidded and tired looking.

“I’m gonna head downstairs and watch some tv, you want to come with?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Alright then, if it doesn’t matter you’re coming with.” Dipper said scooping the demon up. Bill for his part simply closed his eye, too much going through his mind to care.

~

Gideon was anxious as they drove deeper into Gravity Fall’s woods. He was used to living in the more developed areas of the town but knew full well that a good portion of the community lived in the more isolated areas. Knowing this however did not make it any less anxiety inducing, especially when he was being taken there by two people he hardly knew. The only thing keeping him from completely losing it was how at ease Verdandi was. Occasionally, she would give him a smile or assure him that they were almost there. Ren, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. As soon as they had left the main area of town he had grown silent and tense, refusing to look anywhere but out the window. The change in demeanor from his earlier childishness was jarring and Gideon wondered what brought about the change.

As they rounded a bend in the road a large house came into view. Not quite as large as the Northwest Manor, it was still undeniably home to someone wealthy. The drive up towards the home was surrounded by a perfectly manicured lawn with occasional trees. The home itself was in the Victorian gothic style with a high reaching roof and various elements common in that style. It was unassuming colors, mostly muted greys and whites, with a large front porch around the main entrance. Despite the perfect and innocent appearance Gideon couldn’t help but feel intimidated, the forest surrounding the property feeling as though it were pressing in around them, and an odd sense of foreboding emanating from the building.

“Here we go, home sweet home.” Verdandi said brightly, smiling.

“Ah, yes, it looks like a lovely house.” Gideon managed out as Verdandi opened the car door for him. He heard Ren mumble something in response but didn’t quite catch it. As he was led towards the house he couldn’t help but notice that he looked even more tense than he did in the car.

The inside was pretty much what he had expected, the entrance hall led immediately to an ornate staircase leading to the next floor, a red carpet running down it to the entrance. To the sides of the hall were several doors leading deeper into the home. He didn’t have time to take it all in however before Verdandi began to talk.

“I have to go greet Ms. Hel, Ren will show you to your room. Please remain there tonight, everything you need will be provided by one of the servants.” She said quickly before beginning to walk off to one of the doors.

Gideon instinctually started to follow her before he was tugged backwards by the collar of his coat.

“Trust me Creampuff, you don’t want to go with her.” Ren said. “Your room is upstairs, come on.”

Gideon followed without complaint as Ren took the lead. The boy had begun to braid his long hair as they walked.

“Listen, tonight, no matter what, don’t leave your room. There’s a bathroom built in and if you need anything there’s a bell to call servants, so don’t get any dumb ideas and go wandering around alright? Especially after midnight.”

“Why?” Gideon asked, suspicious. The seriousness in his voice felt out of place and Gideon felt the need to pry.

“You don’t need to know, just stay in your room and be the fat little creampuff you are.” Ren snapped back. He stopped in front of a door and glared at Gideon, gesturing for him to go in.

“Hey, you can’t talk to me like that! Do you know who I am!?” Gideon said back angrily.

His anger was swiftly answer as Ren punched the wall, a growl bubbling up in his throat. Gideon flinched and shut his eyes, expecting to be hit as the older boy came to tower over him. Instead he felt something small and round hit him in the face, the lack of weight to whatever it was making it bounce harmlessly off his cheek. He opened his eyes, confused, and looked down to where he thought the object was.

“What the!?” He gasped in shock. On the floor staring up at him was a green glass eye. He quickly looked up at Ren. Where his left eye had been there was simply an empty hole, angry red flesh showing slightly between the barely parted eyelids.

“You’ll stay in this stupid room all night if you don’t want to get hurt like me kid. Pick up my eye.”

“Wha- No! You’re crazy!” He nearly screamed.

“I said PICK UP MY EYE!” Ren shouted.

Scared, Gideon did his best to comply. With trembling hands, he reached for it, but his fear and disgust made him hesitate. Apparently, he was too slow as Ren snatched it up from the floor after a moment. The older boy rubbed it on his shirt before simply popping it back into his eye socket. Gideon watched the horrific sight nearly in tears. His earlier fears about what he was getting into were crashing hard into him. He just stared forward in shock as Ren opened the door to his room and pushed him inside.

“Now that I’ve made my point clear, don’t leave your room creampuff.” Suddenly a wide grin spread across his face. “Sweet dreams!”

~

The day passed by peacefully as Dipper spent most of the day lazily watching tv with Bill. The demon didn’t do or say much, just occasionally watched for a few minutes or gave a short answer to anything Dipper asked him, but that was ok. He felt like after the last few days a lazy day was just what he needed. Occasionally Stan or Ford would pass by and check in on him but otherwise he spent the day being a couch potato. It wasn’t until late afternoon that that peace was broken as Mabel burst in with her usual energy and excitement. She shouted her greeting and tackled Dipper on the couch in a big hug, causing Bill to fall off.

“Hey bro-bro! I’m back from staying with Candy and Grenda!” she shouted happily.

“Woah Mabel!” Dipper said as he quickly tried to grab Bill.

“Is that Bill?” She said with confusion, letting go and sitting down next to her brother. “He’s so tiny!”

“Yeah, though he’s not responding much.” Dipper said, picking up the demon and setting him down on his lap. “He’s pretty drained because of our adventure yesterday. He uh, kinda saved my life.”

“WHAT!?” Mabel shouted.

“Shh, shh, Mabel, Grunkle Stan and great uncle Ford don’t know. And I don’t want them to.”

“Ok but what happened?” she said, immediately lowering her voice.

Dipper looked around and listened for a minute to make sure neither of the Stans were around. Once he was sure they weren’t immediately around he quietly told Mabel the story, leaving out nothing. Mabel for her part was shocked but did her best to remain quiet. She was extremely worried for her brother as she listened. Even putting aside almost dying, these new journals were just a repeat of things that had happened all summer but provide by a dream demon that wanted to conquer the world. There was no way that was good news.

“I can’t believe that _the_ Bill Cipher, the evil triangle that we’ve fought all summer did that. He didn’t like, force you into some kind of deal, did he?” Mabel said as Dipper wrapped up his story.

“No, no, he didn’t ask for anything really. But yeah it was pretty crazy.” Dipper said looking down at Bill. As he did he saw Bill glitch out, for lack of a better word. Mabel also saw and looked back up at Dipper.

“Uh, is that normal?”

“I, uh, I don’t know, no?” Dipper said. There was another glitch. Bill opened his eye half way and looked up at the two.

“Take me outside.” He said in a garbled strained voice.

“Oooh no.” Dipper said, grabbing Bill and heading for the door. “Mabel go get grunkle Stan and Ford!”

“What? Why?” Mabel shouted after him.

“Just do it!” He shouted back as he ran out the door. Bill continued to glitch out as he went out into the yard.

“Bill what do I do?” he said, uncertainty and anxiety rushing through him.

“Nothing.”

Bill opened his eye fully and began to float out of Dipper’s hand, slowly rising upwards. He also began to grow in size until he was back to his normal dimensions, foreign power coursing through him. It was uncomfortable and uncontrollable, he could feel it tearing at his being. He turned black with odd multicolor outlines around him, a yellow eye staring at the sky painted red in the light of late afternoon. All the missteps and miscalculations be damned, he was going to own that sky someday. He’d own the whole damn world, no even better, all of existence. And so what if the Pines boy was his soul mate, he’d just corrupt him and wrap him around his finger later. If Axolotl thought that would change anything Bill would prove him wrong. All would eventually fall to his chaotic reign. Manic laughter erupted from him as a bright light began to shine around him. He yelled out, voice distorted and incomprehensible.  

“jfwym nx st qtsljw xpd,  
bnym ny rd iwjfrx inj.  
gzy qjxy dtz ymnsp ymnx nx ymj jsi,  
n mfaj tsqd gjlzs rd wjajslj.  
qnkj fx stwrfq bnqq wjxzrj,  
zsynq xqjju fsi snlmyrfwjx htrj yt htsxzrj.  
jsotd ny bmnqj dtz hfs,  
n bnqq gj ymj kfqq tk rfs.”

The light enveloped him, shining so bright that Dipper had to shield his eyes. He heard Ford shouting his name as the others ran out into the yard as well. The light continued to shine a while longer, blinding everyone, until finally it began to fade. As Dipper rubbed his eyes to try and normalize his sight again, he heard a thud near him. He opened his eyes and was astonished. Sprawled out on the ground, completely naked, was a boy that looked to be about his age. His hair was unruly and two toned, on top a beautiful blond like spun gold with black below that on the sides and back. His features were smooth but had a slight angle to them, as well as a thin lithe body. His skin was darker than Dipper’s, a creamy brown color like coffee mixed with cream.

Dipper felt himself blush heavily as he looked at the stark naked boy and quickly took off his vest to cover him. As he did he heard the others running over. They all crowded around, taking in the sight of the blond, completely aghast. His eyelids fluttered for a moment before lush eyelashes revealed heterochromatic eyes. The left eye was a rich gold, the right a shocking bright blue. He looked around in confusion at all the people around him as he tried a wobbly attempt to sit up.

“Are you ok Bill?” Dipper asked.

“Where am… Who?” the blond responded, brow furrowing in thought. “Wha-“

He stopped abruptly and stared upwards for a moment before his eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think in fives instead of threes,  
> That's the only key you need.


	9. Dreams and screams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got some help editing this chapter, so hopefully it flows better and has less mistakes! Thank you very much for continuing to read, I love you all.

_Darkness. Unending silent darkness. It wrapped around him like a dark shroud, but it was welcoming and comfortable. It felt right somehow; this was where he belonged. It was a part of him as he was a part of it. He felt like he was infinite and powerful in this quiet void and he loved it. A quiet humming began to take the place of silence, a woman’s voice humming a lullaby. The quiet melody soothed him, and he felt his mind begin to lull into rest. Gentle waves of sound echoed against him, reassuring him that all was as it was meant to be. It was all just so gloriously comfortable. He wanted to stay like this forever._

_But it was not meant to be._

_A loud drop echoed forth, like water falling in a cave. It drowned out the humming for a split second and once it dissipated it was gone, the earlier silence having returned. It was silent for just a moment longer before all hell broke loose. Without warning, he felt something begin to tear into him. Something was trying to simultaneously pull him inwards, compressing him, while ripping out parts. He tried to scream, tried to struggle, tried anything to get away, but it was all useless. He was becoming smaller and smaller and something was tearing out pieces of him, important pieces of himself that he tried desperately to hold on to. Fear and agony spread through him like poison, eating away at any comfort, confidence, and peace of mind he had before._

_Finally, he stopped compressing, leaving him feeling claustrophobic and miserable. He couldn’t move; rather, he wasn’t sure **how** to move. Everything felt wrong. The pain was unbearable, and he felt certain that giant chunks of himself were gone. It was in that moment that whatever had done this to him struck its final blow straight into his core, ripping something out and leaving something poisonous behind. A painful fear was embedding itself deep within him and he didn’t know why._

_The thing finally began to withdraw from him, leaving him feeling violated and shaky. But he quickly noticed another feeling. The void around him suddenly felt foreign and hostile. It suddenly felt like it didn’t recognize him and wanted him gone._   _He felt a cold feeling spreading through him, while an odd, prickling sensation crept down his body (Body?  That doesn’t sound right, he’s not supposed to have a body). Something had changed, he had changed, and he was no longer welcomed.  As if to confirm this, he suddenly felt himself falling through the darkness. He felt himself fall farther and farther. Down, and down, and down. As he fell, he began to discern things moving in the dark._ _Monstrous, menacing things writhed below and snapped at him as he passed, while glowing eyes fixated on him murderously.  Every horrific thing surrounded him as he fell. They were there, crawling through the dark, some of them hungrily staring at him._

_His fall finally ended by the sensation of ice-cold knives digging into him as he hit water. The cold, dark water churned and rolled violently, while seemingly pulling him ever deeper._ _He clawed at the water desperately, trying to escape, to get to the surface, as the current fought to drag him down. He felt himself going numb with the cold. He felt an unfamiliar feeling like something squeezing him from inside his chest that made him fight even harder. He was scared, but he could see it, the surface. He was so close, just a little more._

_The hope was dashed quickly with a small prick in his arm. He looked over to see needle-like claws grabbing him before he was dragged down into the darkness of the abyss._

_~_

The moon was just beginning to set as Ford slumped down onto the sofa in his room, having deposited the still-sleeping Bill on his bed. He had spent the entire night examining him and looking for any signs that he was still a threat. Most of his finds were inconclusive or innocuous at best. The only true way to tell was to observe him once he had woken up, something that would be awhile off.  Ford had injected him with a sedative for fear of him waking up.

Physically Bill seemed to be mostly human with a few aberrations. He had teeth that were sharper and sturdier than normal, pointed ears, and heterochromatic eyes with slit pupils. Ford theorized that whatever initiated the change wasn’t able to completely purge Bill’s demonic traits, so it was manifested in these physical oddities; though, he couldn’t be sure.

There was however one extremely important thing he found. He had also run some basic tests to try and determine if he retained his destructive powers. The results were somewhat of a surprise, as he found no signs of magical energy whatsoever. Almost all living things had some magical energy flowing through them in trace amounts. Granted, some individuals had greater reserves that others, such as himself and Dipper (a revelation that had both shocked and excited him), but he had never seen someone who completely lacked any trace of magical energy. This lack of magical energy did however seem to enhance his ability to channel and enhance outside sources. He had carefully infused a tiny amount of magic into the sleeping boy, only to have it returned twofold. Having no magic of his own, Bill shouldn’t have been able to do so; yet somehow, he did. These results worried him greatly, as he could not be sure of the ramifications. He wondered what would happen if a conscious will was behind that channeling.

Test results aside, none of it would matter until he assessed his mental condition. Bill had claimed he would be losing his memories. Earlier, he had been in a state of obvious confusion before passing out, but that didn’t give any real clues to his actual mental state. It could just be that he was confused by the sudden change in his form, but still remembered everything about himself. Ford just couldn’t be sure at the moment.

He looked up from where he had collapsed down and stared at the boy on his bed. He looked so small, and fragile, innocent even, just as if he was just looking at one of Dipper’s or Mabel’s friends. A child with no ability to pose a threat. But he refused to let go of his reservations. Bill was dangerous and conniving; no matter what he was always up to something. Even if he had forgotten everything and wasn’t putting on a show, Ford had no doubts that Bill had something bigger planned as the demon never went down without a fight. Ford swore to himself that, whatever it was Bill had planned now, he would stop it. He couldn’t fail again; he wouldn’t.

Ford collapsed back into the sofa, exhaustion catching up to him. He was afraid to go asleep with possible danger snoozing on his bed, but his body demanded it. He hadn’t been sleeping well for days now, the anxiety and frantic need to try and find a way to protect his family having kept him from a peaceful sleep.  He flicked his tired eyes towards the bed one more time before finally closing them and allowed himself to drift off into fitful dreams.

~   

It was midday and Dipper sat idly behind the counter in the gift shop talking to Wendy. With the drama around the last few days finally starting to calm down, they formed a tentative planned formed around the incoming problems of school and their new life in the Falls. Stan had decided to open back up the Shack to try and squeeze as much money from summer’s last tourists as he could. To that end, the doors were opened, and Soos and Wendy were called in to work to help finish out the summer.

Dipper had spent the day helping out in the shop for the most part, either stocking shelves or helping to ring out customers. But as was always the case working the giftshop, he slacked off and simply chatted with Wendy and Soos while Stan was out showing customers the tour. There was a lot to catch up on after all. He had also begun to crack into the first of the new journals he had acquired and found it even more puzzling than Ford’s had been at the start of summer. At least Ford’s had made some sense, even with the copious amount of codes and unreadable or scribbled out writings. This new journal was filled to the brim but half of it was either in code or what didn’t even look like English. Then the sections that actually were in English seemed mundane, talking about geography or natural animals and plants. There was one passage, though, that seemed interesting. It detailed a harrowing experience in a cave in which the author claimed to have been attacked by angry spirits after going there with a friend at the behest of an unnamed ‘research partner’. Dipper was already well acquainted with ghosts and spirits and wasn’t surprised by any of the information, but he did make a mental note to eventually try and find said cave. 

“And then dude, I was like ‘Woah!’” Wendy said, talking about some story involving her and her friends.

“Huh? Oh, cool.” Dipper said, having mentally drifted away from the conversation.

“’Sup dude, you ok? You didn’t listen to a word I said.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry Wendy. I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.”

“The whole Bill thing?”

“Yeah, that’s part of it, but like, I don’t know what to even make of these new journals.” He said, flipping open the book and thumbing through pages and pages of unknown symbols and drawings.

Wendy looked over his shoulder at the writing. It was completely incomprehensible.

“Dude, why are you even worrying over that craziness? You already have your uncle’s journals, why bother with someone who can’t even keep a journal without trying to make reading it impossible?”

“I don’t know, I just have this feeling that whatever is in here is really important. Bill said it leads to some big secret, but it’s more than just that. I don’t know how to explain it, but I just know.” Dipper said, staring in concentration at the pages.

“Whatever you say dude.” Wendy said, showing her laid-back attitude as always.

Their conversation quickly ended as Stan came barging back into the gift shop.

“Look alive people, tourists incoming!” He shouted in his usual gruff tone.

It was only minutes before tourists flooded in and began looking at all the worthless trinkets and weird things that filled every nook and cranny of the giftshop. Usually Dipper found moments like these to be annoying, but the sense of normalcy it gave had been an oddly welcome feeling. Even in chaos, some things simply didn’t change. Dipper watched them, silently hoping that they would leave soon so that he could go back to his book or resume talking to Wendy. Things had gotten a lot better between them ever since he had confessed how he felt, and now that he felt like he was truly letting go of those feelings he wanted nothing more than to strengthen their friendship. Wendy was one of the coolest people he had ever met, as well as being extremely reliable and helpful when it came to adventures. He couldn’t have asked for a better friend.

As he thought about these things, a loud piercing scream suddenly echoed through the Shack. Everyone in the giftshop, employees and tourist alike, stopped and looked at the closed off entrance to the house in confusion and fear. Stan stared back dumbstruck for a moment before immediately switching gears.

“Nothing to worry about folks!” He shouted, the screaming still going strong. “That’s just one of the many ghosts that haunts the Mystery Shack! Better be careful or you won’t come out alive!”

The tourists all chuckled a little bit, still uncomfortable but willing to buy the lie and dismiss the shrill noise. Having calmed them down, Stan hurried over to the counter.

“Mister Pines, since when did you have a banshee in the house?” Wendy said, hands pressed to her ears.

“Since several days ago. Dipper! Take care of it!” He said, quickly gesturing for him to go. There was only one person who could be screaming like that.

Dipper quickly rushed back into the house, trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Ford had taken him to the lab immediately yesterday, so perhaps it was coming from Ford’s room? His theory was quickly confirmed as the screaming got louder the closer he got. He eventually had to give up and cover his ears, his sensitive hearing ringing from the loud noise.

As he finally reached the door he could just barely hear Ford shouting something. He rushed in, not sure what to expect. There was nothing shocking about the scene however. Ford stood a few steps away from one corner of the room, seemingly trying to shout and gesture for someone to calm down, that person being Bill. A pair of wild, frightened eyes quickly moved to take in Dipper’s presence, staring holes into him. Ford followed his gaze and caught sight of Dipper.

“Oh, thank goodness, you’re just in time Dipper. Help me out here.” He said, sounding relieved.

“What happened?” Dipper asked as he started to walk closer, only to be frozen by another scream.

“Stay away!” Bill screamed, pushing himself hard to the wall as though it would suddenly give in and give him a way to escape.

“We’re not going to hurt you!” Ford shouted in frustration.

“Uncle Ford, calm down.” Dipper said. “Let’s just back up a little and give him some space.”

Ford grunted but obliged, backing up a bit to the center of the room with Dipper. The blond continued to stare at them, panting from his constant screaming and the adrenaline pumping through him. He didn’t dare move from the corner.

“It’s ok Bill, we’re not going to hurt you I promise.” Dipper tried soothingly.

“Who the hell are you people!? And why do I feel the urge to both punch and run away from you? He said pointing at Ford.  

Dipper was a little taken aback by this response. He knew Bill claimed he would lose his memory, but it was one thing to hear and an entirely different thing to see it playing out in front of him. He did seem to still have something in there though, otherwise why would he instantly dislike Ford?

“So, you don’t remember…” Dipper said, trailing off into thought. Ford picked up where he left off.

“Tell us what you remember.” Ford said sternly. He was analyzing every twitch and look now, trying to answer his doubts.

“No, no, no, no. Answer my question first!”

Ford sighed heavily at that. But Dipper elbowed him lightly, having returned from his thoughts.

“My name’s Dipper, and this is my great uncle Stanford. Will you tell us what you remember?”

Bill eyed him suspiciously for a moment, his mistrust obvious. He looked away a moment to collect his thoughts, his mind a muddled mess of fear. As his mind started to calm slightly he suddenly felt deeply confused. When he tried to recall anything, nothing came to mind. He felt a certainty that something had to be there, something, anything, everything. But there was nothing, he couldn’t even think of his own name. He felt heavy frustration building up quickly inside him, and finally gave his answer.

“Nothing, I don’t remember anything whatsoever. What did you do to me!?” The last part came out as an angry yell. He was quickly working himself back up into a frenzy, the fright, frustration, and anger swirling through him. It was their fault he didn’t remember anything, he was sure of it. He pulled his legs up to his chest and hid his face in his arms behind them. Some part of him told him to stop showing weakness in front of the enemy but it was too overwhelming. He didn’t know where he was, who he was, or what was even going on. Despite all of this though he did keep himself from crying. He wouldn’t show that much weakness at least, he wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

Dipper looked on as Bill curled up into himself. The sight made him feel extremely bad. Thinking maybe this was a good chance, he slowly moved over to him and crouched down beside him. When he got no reaction he sat down, careful not to brush up against him.

“It’s your turn to ask a question.” He offered. “Unless you want me to ask another one instead.”

“What did you do to me?” Bill asked. He felt pathetic as he asked, trying to choke back the scared whimper that wanted to come out.

“We didn’t do anything to you.” Ford grit out between clenched teeth. He was extremely agitated, but he couldn’t put his finger on why.

“You’re lying! You did something! It had to be you!” Bill shouted looking up and pointing his finger accusingly at Ford. 

“Uncle Ford, can I speak to him alone for a bit?” Dipper asked. He could tell by the way Bill instantly glared at Ford that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with him in the room.

“Dipper!” Ford protested.

“Please Uncle Ford.” Dipper met his eyes pleadingly, his message clear. Ford huffed a little, before turning around to leave.

“Fine, but leave the door open.”

“Thanks Uncle Ford.” Dipper called after him.

“Answer my question.” The blond said beside him, sounding a bit petulant.

“I know you probably won’t believe me, but we really didn’t do anything. You’re sure you don’t remember anything? Nothing about this entire summer or anything else?” Dipper asked, noticing that Bill had curled back up. He didn’t like seeing him like this for some reason.

“No. It’s summer? Where even am I? Why am I here? What even is my name?” Bill asked, biting his lip as tears threatened to form in his eyes.

Dipper looked at him sympathetically. It must be terrifying not to remember anything.

“Right, I’m sorry. We were just worried. Your name is Bill. You’re, uh, a family friend. You came to stay here for the summer with us in Gravity Falls and you hit your head really hard yesterday. That’s probably why you don’t remember anything.” Dipper said, thinking on his feet for a reasonable enough lie. He didn’t like to lie, but he felt it necessary in this case. The truth was outlandish in the first place and the last thing he wanted was to inform Bill that he was in fact an all-powerful dream demon brought low. No, that wasn’t something he needed to know right now.

Bill shook his head a little. That didn’t feel right, he was being lied to. But why? He didn’t know, even if he was certain, and he had no point of reference to prove it. At least the name felt right. Bill. It was simple, but he liked it.

“Bill, will you tell me why you’re so scared of Uncle Ford? Or anything about when you woke up? I was pretty worried after yesterday. You wouldn’t wake up.”

“I was…” Bill stopped himself, trying to gather his thoughts together. “I was having a nightmare. I can’t even remember it but it felt like the whole world was turned upside down, and somewhere I used to belong chased me out and wanted to hurt me. Like whatever it was wanted to tear me limb from limb and go even further. Like it wanted to burn my very existence away.”

Bill started to tremble as he spoke. He had been so preoccupied with the man that his mind hadn’t processed the nightmare. But now that it was catching up, it did so with a vengeance. He started to bite at his lip as he continued.

“Then I woke up and some guy was all up in my face. I don’t know why, but he felt familiar and something told me to get away from him because he would hurt me.”

“Uncle Ford won’t hurt you, I promise.” Dipper said softly, gently placing a hand on Bill’s shoulder. The boy flinched at the touch but didn’t pull away. “Are you hungry? Do you want anything to eat or drink?”

Bill looked out from his arms enough to look at Dipper beside him. Dipper noted how confused he looked. It seemed Bill didn’t really understand completely. Dipper got up and offered his hand to Bill.

“Come on, let’s get you some lunch.”

Bill stared at the offered hand but didn’t immediately move to take it. Instead, he uncurled and made a tentative attempt to stand, only to fall forward immediately back onto the floor. Stubbornly, he made a second attempt before falling flat on his face. He groaned in frustration.

Dipper ran his hand through his hair as he watched. He couldn’t suppress the sigh that bubbled up.

“Oh boy, this is gonna be harder than I thought.”                                                 


	10. A Gleeful Setup

It took a while to help Bill to the kitchen as he stubbornly refused to be helped over and over, falling and tripping the whole way. Dipper wasn’t entirely surprised by his wobbly attempts to walk. He still clearly remembered the time Bill had possessed his body and had to take a moment to properly get his feet under him. He just assumed that, without memories to help back up his lack of experience, this was to be expected. As they approached the kitchen, Dipper pulled out a chair and gestured for Bill to sit. Bill complied, sulking as he promptly plopped down onto the chair and laid his head on the table.

“Why am I so bad at this leg thing?” he mumbled.

“Maybe if you had let me help you, you wouldn’t have had to fall a million times.” Dipper said sarcastically, having caught the complaint.

Bill immediately blushed in embarrassment at being heard and turned away from Dipper. He grumbled under his breath, annoyed and uncomfortable. He still greatly distrusted the boy, but for some reason Dipper also somehow soothed his fear. He knew he was being lied to, but at least Dipper was about his size and didn’t seem to have bad intentions. He resolved to stay vigilant but, take what peace he could from the storm raging in his mind.

As Dipper went about the kitchen rummaging through the cabinets and fridge, Bill spread his arms out on the table while staring at them intently. He distantly recalled having a sense of this body before, but the arduous task of just attempting to walk had brought it more to the forefront of his mind. That being that, his body gave him an odd sense of wrongness. He looked at his arms and hands in utter disgust. He felt like they weren’t the right color, and that he had too many fingers, or that they didn’t bend in the ways he thought they should. But they looked exactly like Dipper’s hands, albeit having a slightly darker skin tone. They were obviously normal. So, why did he feel so off about it? Was it the supposed head injury?

He was broken out of his thoughts as Dipper placed a plate in front of him. He looked at the square thing curiously, lacking any word for it. He guessed he was supposed to eat it though. He tentatively reached for the curious square, wondering what it would taste like. He took a small bite of it, and immediately deemed it ‘not bad’ before wolfing down the rest of it. He hadn’t realized it, but his body definitely wanted food. He finished the thing in a matter of seconds.

“Woah, slow down, you’ll get a stomach ache.” Dipper said, sitting down with one of his own.

“What even is that?” He asked, eyeing Dipper’s food.

Dipper paused for a moment, blinking, before chuckling a little.

“It’s called a sandwich. It’s just a combination of bread, meat, and cheese. I didn’t put on anything else since I’m not sure what exactly you’ll like.”

As Dipper finished talking, he reached for his sandwich. However, Bill snatched it up before Dipper could touch it and began stuffing his face with it.

“Bill, that was mine!”

“Well it’s mine now.” He said through a mouthful of food.

Dipper sighed, unsure of what he had even been expecting. Right now, Bill was going off instinct, so he probably couldn’t expect manners or any real understanding of normal behavior. He got up and made himself another sandwich. He came back to the table and sat a little farther away from Bill this time, ensuring that his food was safely out of his reach. Luckily, it proved to be an unnecessary precaution: Bill had lapsed back into silence, while staring at his outstretched arms and wiggling his fingers. Dipper couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his head.

As Dipper watched Bill intently, he failed to notice Mabel come into the kitchen. He jumped as she enthusiastically shouted her greeting but otherwise regained his composure quickly. Bill, on the other hand, did not fare as well. The unexpected outbursts caused him to fall out of his chair and slide himself under the table. His reactions were still very heavily based in primal fear, a fact Dipper felt like he kept forgetting.

“Hi Mabel.” Dipper said smiling. He lowered his voice to whisper to her. “You’re scaring Bill, could you quiet down a bit? He doesn’t remember anything at all. I told him he hit his head.”

Mabel smiled back and nodded. She crouched down to look under the table, Dipper quickly doing the same. Once again Bill had done his best to corner himself, this time against one of the table legs. Dipper couldn’t help but think that at least this time he had more room to run, even if he knew there was no way Bill was going to manage that when he couldn’t even walk.

“Hi Bill, I didn’t mean to scare you. There’s no need to be afraid.” Mabel said, “I heard you don’t remember me, so, let’s start over. Nice to meet you again, my name is Mabel. I’m Dipper’s sister.”

Bill stared at her for a moment before his mismatched eyes darted to Dipper. Dipper nodded encouragingly at him, hoping that Bill would trust him as he had earlier. It took a moment, but Bill finally made a move towards the twins. They helped him struggle out from beneath the table and back into his chair. The blond immediately crossed his arms and huffed, avoiding eye contact. Mabel giggled at that.

“Someone seems grumpy. I guess would be too if I had to wear Dipper’s clothes.”

“Hey!” Dipper shouted indignantly. “What’s wrong with my clothes!?”

“You never wash them. But don’t worry Bill, we’ll get your wardrobe fixed up soon.” Mabel quipped back. She circled around Dipper until she was behind him and started pushing him to the kitchen door.

“Ford wants to talk to you.” She whispered into his ear. “Don’t worry about Bill, I’ll watch him.”

“Oh, uh, okay.” Dipper said back as they reached the doorway. He had figured that Ford would want to talk eventually, but he was a bit surprised it was so soon. He didn’t doubt that Ford was observing Bill, even if only from a distance. But all they had done so far was eat a late lunch. Perhaps there was another reason? Dipper shrugged to himself as he exited the kitchen to look for his great uncle.

~

Bright morning light streamed through the hallway windows as Verdandi knocked on Ren’s bedroom door. She waited a moment but heard no movement or sounds coming from the room. She knew for a fact that he was in there, having retreated to his room after last night’s party. He had looked worse than usual, causing her to wonder if Ren didn’t indulge himself a little too much with chemical comforts again. After another few knocks she gave up and tried the door. It opened smoothly without resistance. She said silent thanks to the universe that Ren had forgotten to lock it.

As she entered, the first thing she noted was that the bed clearly hadn’t been slept in. The other was a trail of small drops of blood leading from the bathroom to the closet. That wasn’t a good sign. Ever since it had healed, Ren’s missing eye had a tendency to bleed from time to time. It usually happened in times of extreme stress, and while last night hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary, it seemed to have affected him more than she thought. Perhaps it was from having to deal with that bratty Gleeful child, on top of his other duties. She couldn’t blame him if it was due to that child, she had a distaste for him herself. However, that didn’t excuse Ren from important meetings. 

She moved to the closet and opened it. It was a walk-in filled with clothes and costumes, none of which Ren had ever liked. The boy only ever wanted to wear black long-sleeved shirts and jeans; nothing less, nothing more. But he had to conform to his mother’s wishes, and so, had hundreds of outfits he had only ever worn once. She spotted a few stray drops of blood as she moved a little further in, pushing aside clothing. In the very back she saw Ren, legs pulled tightly to his chest as he hugged his knees, his face hidden behind them.

“Ren, it’s time to get up.”

“No.” The reply was in a childish, petulant voice.

“Ren.”

“No! I don’ have a mom, go ‘way.” Ren slurred out as he halfheartedly looked over his knees at her.

 He was a pitiful sight to behold: one eye wrapped up in a bandage soaked in now dry blood, the other sported a dark circle beneath it. Verdandi could tell he hadn’t gotten even a minute’s worth of sleep. She looked down and spotted a syringe discarded carelessly on the floor.

“Ren, what did you inject this time?” she asked, a groan rising in her throat.

“Uh…” Ren’s eyes refused to focus as he tried to think. He honestly couldn’t completely remember in his drug-fueled haze. All he really remembered from last night was pain, lots and lots of pain. He let out a small giggle, thankful to himself for doing whatever he did to make it hurt less. “Morphine an’ uh sedative of som’ kind? Maybe somethin’ else too?”

“You don’t know do you?” Verdandi groaned, exasperated.

Ren shook his head, laying it back down against his knees. He felt extremely tired, had been since he returned to his room, but knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. His scattered mind wouldn’t allow it. Though his mind was clouded by drugs he took, his mind still jumped from regretful thoughts to angry ones and back again. Sure, he could get rid of physical pain. As for the mental, the best he could do was slow it down.

“I want t’ go home.” He whined into his legs.

Verdandi looked at him for a long time before replying.

“This is home now.”

Ren bit his lip, a bitter, angry feeling churning in his stomach.

“Then at least let me see Yuki.”

She didn’t respond this time and turned to leave the room. As she left, Ren started to angrily shout after her, which she ignored. She closed the door behind her and sighed as she walked down the hall. Today was not shaping up to be a good one.

~

Gideon sat in front of a mirror, carefully preening his hair and makeup. He had passed the night half asleep, the awful image of Ren’s missing eye burned into his mind. He could’ve sworn he heard screaming somewhere within the house some time past midnight while he was trying to rest. He had been both curious and frightened but took the warnings seriously. Whatever it was he was hearing, he told himself that it wasn’t worth finding out. That assertion became doubly true when he heard footsteps and the sound of people stumbling down the halls. The servant who had brought him dinner had solidly reminded him to lock the door and he was grateful for it. He eventually did get some rest but was sorely aware that it wasn’t enough. Today he was to meet his mysterious benefactor, so he had to make sure his appearance was impeccable.

As he continued to prepare himself, he couldn’t help but have second thoughts about the whole thing. This place was frightening, and he really didn’t like it. Yes, the house was beautiful, and the servants had done anything he had asked for, but it wasn’t home. Not to mention a certain inhabitant unnerved him. He decided that, if possible, he would go home today.

Suddenly, he heard soft knocking at the door. He leapt off his seat and walked over to the door.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“It’s me, Verdandi.”

“Ah, Ms. Norn, I had no idea when to expect you.” Gideon said, as he opened the door. “I suppose it’s time to finally meet Ms. Hel?”

“Yes. If you’ll just follow me, she wished to discuss matters over breakfast.”

Gideon stepped out of the room, quickly glancing around the hall with hesitation before closing the door.

“Will, uh, will Ren be there? At breakfast.” He asked.

Verdandi raised a brow but decided to leave it be. No doubt Ren had done something, as he always did.

“No, Ren isn’t feeling well enough to join us today.” She said curtly.

“Oh, that’s too bad.” He said, trying to feign disappointment and failing.

Silence hung in the air between the two as they worked their way through the halls to a large dining room. An elegant table of middling size sat in the middle of the room, with a variety of breakfast foods laid out in beautiful, delicate arrangements. At the head of the table sat a woman. She was beautiful, with a perfect trim figure and an alluring feminine face. She had rich mahogany brown hair with a slight wave to it that cascaded down to her waist. Her eyes were large and entrancing, sporting the same rich brown hue as her hair. She wore a simple black dress, with a white silk robe draped over her shoulders.

“Ah, Gideon Gleeful, it’s nice to finally meet you. My name is Kuromi Hel.” Kuromi said as the two approached. She raised an eyebrow at the absence of her son. “Verdandi, where is Ren?”

“I’m sorry Ms. Hel, but Ren is currently… indisposed. I did my best to get him up, but it was not possible.” She said.

“I see, very well. Please see me after breakfast.”

“As you wish miss.” Verdandi replied, bowing slightly before turning and leaving.

“Now then, Gideon, please, have a seat and eat some food. My servants prepared a wide array since we were not sure what you would like.”

“Why thank you Ms. Hel. It’s nice to meet you, but I must say, I wasn’t expecting someone so beautiful.”

“There is no need for compliments or pleasantries, Gideon. Let us cut to the chase, shall we? It was not easy to get you released from prison.”

Gideon shivered a little at her directness. He felt something cold lurking beneath the pleasant composed voice. Something frightening and hungry.

“Yes, well, I would like to say that I am very grateful for your help. From what I understand you wished to work out some sort of partnership. I’m more than willing to try and work out a deal between us, seeing as you have done me such a great favor.”

“Good, I’m glad to see you are amenable to paying back the favor. I was reluctant at first to help as I could not be certain you would pay the due respect my efforts deserve. It was my son who made a deal with Cipher, you see, and regrettably I am always the one to clean up his messes. But first, tell me, how far are you willing to go for your revenge?”

“I’d do anything to get my revenge on the Pines’ family!” He said, the thought immediately getting him worked up. “They took everything from me and I want to do the same to them! Although, if Mabel agreed to be my queen I wouldn’t hurt a hair on her head.”

“Good.” Kuromi said calmly, a serene look on her face. She stood up from her seat, walking over to a window. “You see Gideon, I have a minor problem. As of right now I am unable to leave this home and it’s stopping me from putting my plans into motion. I don’t know what Bill promised you, but if you help me I will make sure you are rewarded handsomely.”

“What would I have to do?” Gideon asked, intrigued.

“Nothing exceptionally hard. Mostly just keep an eye on the Pines’ family and their new guest. Perhaps do a few deliveries for me. Until now I have only had Verdandi to rely on, and, unfortunately, I need her to manage my business affairs. And since my son appears to be useless at doing anything that I ask him to, I am in dire need of your help. Tell me Gideon, will you help me? Once I have won, I can make a world where Mabel is yours forever. You’d have UNLIMITED power as well.”

“You swear you’ll give me Mabel?”

“Of course.”

“Then you’ve got yourself a deal! I’ll do whatever you need me to do as long as you keep your promises.”

 Kuromi smiled, satisfied at how easy it was to convince him.

“Then shall we iron out the rest of the details?” She asked, returning to the table.

~

Dipper found Ford behind the shack, trying to inspect the hole in the crawlspace Dipper had fallen through a while ago. He was mumbling to himself quietly as he struggled to get a good look at it from outside, not wanting to risk getting stuck by trying to go in.

“Uh, hey Great Uncle Ford! Mabel said you wanted to see me?”

“Ah Dipper! Yes, yes, come here.” He said, straightening up and smiling at his nephew. He began to walk towards the woods, gesturing for Dipper to follow.

“Is this about Bill, Great Uncle Ford?” Dipper asked as he trailed behind his uncle.

“A little bit, yes.” Ford said. He looked back behind them, making sure they were out of sight of the shack. “Tell me Dipper, do you think he’s really forgotten?”

Dipper hummed in thought for a moment, unsure of his answer.

“I mean, if he’s just putting on an act it’s pretty amazing. He was pretty freaked out earlier, and he’s still jumping at every voice or movement he sees out of the corner of his eye.” Dipper said uncertainly. “But at the same time, there are little things that are the same as before. I mean he still talks the same as before, and there are just little tics unique to him that make me feel certain it’s still Bill. Does that make sense?”

 “Yeah, I think I know what you’re saying.” Ford said, scratching his chin. “I just don’t trust him Dipper. But I don’t know what to do either. For now, if you would be willing to, would you keep an eye on him for me and let me know If you see anything odd about him or if he does anything suspicious?”

“Of course, Great Uncle Ford.” Dipper said immediately. “I mean, I got us into this mess in the first place so it’s only right.”

“Now, now, don’t blame yourself.” Ford said, patting Dipper on the back. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a gift wrapped in brown paper. “Here, an early birthday present.”

Dipper took it and carefully opened it. Inside was a beautiful hand-bound book, a pine tree on the front. Like Ford’s journals, it was a deep blue in color, with the pine tree symbol on the cover done in gold. Numerous pages of high-quality paper filled it. A number 1 was emblazoned onto the pine tree. Dipper stared at it in awe.

“I hope you like it. I wasn’t sure what look you would like the most, so I tried to keep it simple and like mine since you enjoyed my journals. The end of summer is just around the corner and the beginning of many adventures is just about to start. Right, apprentice?” Ford said, with a bright smile on his face.

“Oh my god, thank you Great Uncle Ford!” Dipper shouted happily as he hugged the journal to his chest. “I’m so excited, there’s already a lot I can put in it, and so many more things to come. I can’t wait!”

Ford laughed at his nephew’s enthusiasm. “Now get on back, and remember, keep a close eye on Bill.”

“Will do great uncle Ford!” Dipper said, saluting his uncle before running back in the direction of the shack.


	11. 153.9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, here's a massive chapter for you all. Almost 4500 words total. Some of my inspirations are bleeding through in this one. I hope you enjoy it, I worked very hard on it. Sorry it took so long, it's been a busy summer.  
> EDIT: WOOPS! A paragraph disappeared when I posted. All better now.

Chapter 11

When Dipper returned Bill was essentially tied to his chair with different colors of yarn. Mabel was flitting around him with several balls of yarn, humming in thought as she held up one color and then another. Bill didn’t struggle against his constraints, but he looked more than a little irritated as he stared at the wall.

“Mabel, what are you doing?” Dipper asked as he stopped in the doorway.

“Trying to find the perfect colors for Bill.” Mabel said with a shining smile.

“I _told_ you I like yellow!” Bill groaned loudly.

“Oh silly, just because you like yellow doesn’t mean it’s the right color for you.” Mabel said.

“Says you.”

“Come on Mabel, untangle him and leave him alone.” Dipper said, immediately trying to put an end to a hopeless argument.

“Fiiiine.” Mabel said, as she worked to unravel all the strings holding Bill in. “I got his measurements anyways.”

Bill simply huffed and crossed his arms over his chest as Mabel finally finished untangling him.

“We’ll have to go to the mall soon and get Bill some of his own clothes. But yeah, uh, what now?” Mabel asked, looking between the two.

“I dunno, is there really anything we can do right now? Bill can’t even get around without tripping right now. I guess there’s always reading.” Dipper said, failing to notice the pointed glare Bill gave him.

“Oh my god, Dipper, you’re so boring!” Mabel exclaimed. “Bill did you want to do anything?”

“I don’t know where I am, why I’m here, or even who I am. So unless you can answer those, _no_.” Bill deadpanned.

“Silly, we already answered those.”

“I still don’t believe any of you. I know you’re all lying to me.”

“Well there’s always TV?” Mabel said, making a point to ignore Bill’s comments.

“Sure, why not? Can’t really go out and do anything with Bill.” Dipper said, shrugging.

“Gee, thanks, it’s nice to know how much of a burden I am. If I’m such an annoyance, go do your own stupid thing and stop reminding me.”

“What are we gonna watch? Ghost Harassers?” Dipper continued, not acknowledging Bill either.

“Yeah, go ahead and pick without me then.” Bill said.

“Ugh, that show again? Let’s just try to find a movie. You get mister cranky blond there and I’ll get everything set up.” Mabel said.

As she ran off, Dipper looked back to Bill.

“Are you going to let me help this time?” He asked.

“Oh, now you feel like acknowledging I’m here. Well too bad. Don’t even think about touching me, you stupid waste of skin.” Bill growled angrily, as he put his feet to the ground and attempted to stand up properly.

His attempt to walk was a lot better this time, being only somewhat wobbly. He took a few steps before stopped to regain his balance. Dipper watched him impassively, wondering how long it would take him to get it down fully. At least it seemed like Bill was learning quickly. Dipper went in front of Bill to lead him to the living room, stopping from now and then to make sure Bill was making progress. Once they finally made it to the living room, Bill sat down on the ground immediately. Although calling it sitting would have been charitable, it was more like he just let himself fall. It wasn’t long before Mabel joined them, having grabbed several movies and some drawing supplies. The twins bickered for a moment while trying to decide on what movie to watch, occasionally shooting a glance Bill’s way. Ultimately, they decided to just go with a Disney movie they had already watched. Mabel popped it in and let it run.

As the movie play none of them really watched it. Mabel fell into drawing in her sketchbook enthusiastically, while Dipper went to reading one of Ford’s journals. Bill sulked quietly, eyes fixed on the TV but not actually taking in anything. With the twins doing their own thing, his mind had turned inward again as unfamiliar sensations ran through his mind and body. He was upset at the twins for making him feel like a nuisance and ignoring him, but he didn’t understand why.  He couldn’t figure out why it even mattered, why they seemed to matter. They were lying to him, he didn’t know them but there was some nagging feeling in the back of his mind that they were important. He sighed, annoyed with the feeling and everything in general. He was quickly finding that not knowing about something was akin to torture to him. His uncertainty and endless sea of questions were slowly driving him crazy. It was made worse by the certainty that he _should_ know everything, though why he even felt that way he couldn’t figure out.

With so many unanswered questions in his mind, he decided he was tired of thinking. While staring at the TV absently, he tried to let his mind drifted off into thoughtless nothingness with some success. He couldn’t tell how long this semi-fugue state lasted, but he was pulled from it by the sounds of heavy steps approaching them. Dazedly, he turned towards the door to see the man from earlier that afternoon, though he was wearing different clothing. He experienced a moment of confusion at how different the man suddenly looked before his system froze up in fight or flight mode. He did his bests to remain silent and show no fear, thoroughly mortified about his helpless display earlier in the day.

“Kids, dinner.” Stan said. “Make sure the pipsqueak washes up with you.”

“Yes, Grunkle Stan.” Dipper and Mabel said in unison as he walked off.

 “That’s Ford’s twin brother, Stan. Don’t worry about him, he’s harmless.” Dipper elaborated, upon noticing Bill’s confusion. “Come on, we’ve got to go wash our hands before dinner.”

~

Dinner turned out to be chaotic with Bill now thrown into the mix. First, Stan had tried to lay down the rules to Bill. They were simple, consisting of only ‘do as I say and don’t break my stuff’. Bill rewarded this ‘speech’ by purposely dropping his glass of water on the floor and shattering it and throwing a piece of bread at Stan’s face afterwards. Stan did his best to put fear into the boy by shouting loudly, but Bill only shouted back with a defiant glare. As Stan was shouting at him over his ‘reward’, Ford entered to get his own dinner. As Ford grabbed his plate, Stan’s shouting at Bill turned into shouting at Ford. Stan became even more irritated/aggravated when Ford started to make his way to the basement. To make matters worse, Bill had been glaring at Ford this entire time while clutching a fork threateningly, making the entire situation even more tense.

Dipper and Mabel did their best to defuse the situation, each taking a grunkle. Dipper also took the duty of scolding Bill. Eventually, they managed to calm things down a bit, though Bill continued to be defiant to everyone at the table. When Ford made his exit, the entire table fell into a tense silence. It seemed that dinner might end at least quietly for a moment, until Stan decided to bring up the topic of where Bill would be sleeping. The way he saw it, there were only two realistic options: either Bill slept in Ford’s room again or on the sofa in the living room. Bill immediately lashed out at the suggestion and did the first thing he could think of, which was to pick up his plate and throw it at the wall while screaming no. In his tantrum, he declared he would rather die than ever set foot in Ford’s room again and that wherever Dipper was sleeping he would be too. They all tried to change his mind, telling him there was no room in the attic, but Bill wouldn’t hear it. Bill jumped out of his chair and angrily stomped out of the room, with a crashing noise shortly following his departure.

Stan stared after the blond, anger painted across his face. He turned to Dipper next, commanding him to clean everything up before getting up and leaving as well.

“Could that have gone any worse?” Dipper groaned, face planting into the table.

“Don’t feel bad bro-bro.” Mabel said sympathetically. “I’ll help you clean up.”

“Thanks Mabel.” Dipper said appreciatively, pulling himself back up from the table and surveying the mess Bill had left. Shattered glass and water were spread across the floor while the walls were decorated with the food from dinner. He sighed heavily, taking his plate and carefully walking over to the sink to clean it before cleaning up everything else. Mabel joined him, momentarily leaving to get cleaning supplies.

Together they made quick work of the mess, Mabel occasionally hitting Dipper with her rag or doing something equally silly to solicit a laugh from her brother. Dipper felt extremely grateful for his sister in that moment, knowing she was doing her best to cheer him up. She always tried to make things at least a little better, and usually succeeded. For the millionth time, he couldn’t help but think how lucky he was to have her.

“Come on Bill.” Dipper muttered, continuing up the stairs without even looking back. He was too exhausted to manage Bill’s every movement right now, but from the looks of it he didn’t really need to. Bill was obviously tired as well.

Bill grunted in response as he pulled himself up and began to follow them.  His walking and movement had noticeably improved, as if he’d finally mastered it. Bill was hardly paying any attention as they reached the upstairs landing until his eyes were caught on a stained-glass window, darkened with the evening light. His eyes locked on a triangle with an eye in the center that stared back at him in its ominous muted red hues. He felt entranced by it, unable to look away. The perfect lines.  The perfect corners.  The eye with a gaze that peered into one’s very soul.  It was all so beautiful.  It was _perfect_.

In his periphery, Bill noticed the twins continue to their bedroom, having not noticed that Bill had stopped. He knew he should hurry and follow them, but as he stared at the window his body had frozen in place. It suddenly felt as though as it was not his own. He felt more like an observer, detached from himself but aware of everything around him.  It felt unsettling, but any unease quickly turned into ease as he grew accustomed to this strange feeling. It came with an odd desire to get even further, to separate from his body and be free.

With the comfort of distance, he noticed his mind working to remember something involuntarily. He passively wondered what it could be, but the distance muted any intense feelings of curiosity. He could tell that whatever he was trying to remember was important, something vital to his existence. As the seconds passed he felt his mind drawing closer to the memory. He became aware of a vague tingling sensation and he tried to find the cause. Dipper was shaking him and calling his name. He looked worried. Bill couldn’t seem to understand why though. He felt fine, what was there to worry about?

As he saw Dipper’s worried look intensify, Bill suddenly felt intense pain run through him that snapped him back to reality. Without the distance, he realized that adrenaline was surging through his body and his head was pounding. He was also coughing and gasping for air, having not even noticed that he had stopped breathing. He groaned as Dipper continued to shout at him and began to sink down to the floor.

“Quiet.” Bill croaked out, hands tangling in his hair tightly. It felt as though his head would implode, and the shouting was making it worse.

“Are you okay, Bill?” Dipper whispered frantically. “You weren’t breathing.”

Bill just shook his head. Everything hurt, but the worst feeling was that whatever he was trying to remember had slipped through his hands like water. All that remained was the overwhelming desire to lay down.

“Can you walk?” Dipper asked from beside him.

When Bill didn’t answer, Dipper grabbed one of Bill’s hands gently and pulled his arm around his shoulder to help support him, before pulling him up and helping him to the bedroom. Bill tried his best to walk with him with some difficulty, his pounding head making it hard to focus on anything else.

“Man, what happened to him?” Mabel asked as the two boys walked through the door, Bill nearly limp as Dipper dragged him along.

“I don’t know exactly. I think he was trying to remember something.” Dipper said, keeping his voice low as he sat Bill down on the floor and started grabbing blankets and pillows to make a makeshift bed for him.

“Oh.” Mabel said, her face immediately dropping into worry. “Did he?”

“I don’t think so.” Dipper said as he encouraged Bill to lay down. He complied easily, eyes shut tightly, pain evident on his face. Dipper couldn’t help but sigh a little in relief as Bill pulled the blankets over his head and went still. He made a mental note to talk to Ford about this in the morning. On the one hand it wasn’t a surprise that Bill reacted to an image of his old form, but that didn’t make it any less worrisome.

“I hope you’re right,” Mabel said as she yawned. “Could you get the light bro-bro?”

“Sure Mabel.” Dipper said, hitting the lights and heading to his own bed. At first, he tried to sleep, but despite being tired he found it difficult. After tossing and turning for a while he decided that he would just read instead.

With his own journal beside him and pen in hand, Dipper soundlessly cracked open one of the new journals, ready to jot down notes about anything. He kept his flashlight close to him as he read, being careful not to disturb the slumber of the other two. He already had entries made about the situation that led up to the discovery of the journals and was now beginning the process of decoding what he could. The thing was a complex mix of codes and parts that flat out looked like gibberish. Despite these difficulties, a clear picture began to form as he decoded what text he could.

The author of this journal was a researcher just like Ford, but his journals didn’t state that he was studying Gravity Falls. In fact, there was no mention of the town whatsoever, only allusions to somewhere deep in the woods far from other people. While researching this unnamed area, the author had apparently stumbled upon a cave with a vast underground lake hidden deep within. The strange place with studded with mysterious glowing blue crystals and a ceiling that looked like the light from stars reflecting off a clear, still lake. In the very center of the lake was a small island with some unusual structure on it, but the man had been reticent to dive into the water and swim. The author had decided to come back after making some preparations.

Apparently, everything changed after visiting that cave. Strange things had always been the norm there, but after visiting the cave it was as if something had begun to stir. The odd occurrences ramped up in frequency and new ones made themselves evident. The first new addition after these entries was a number station that wasn’t there prior. The station was nothing but static before, and he had only discovered the change on accident. During the day, the station simply read out numbers over and over. He would have easily dismissed it as just another one of the many spy stations relaying information had he not left it on into the night. But at midnight, the numbers abruptly cut off and the smooth voice of a woman had cut in and started talking as though it were a normal radio show. The author must have transcribed it, but it was written in a bunch of random symbols with no indication as to their meaning. It was frustrating, but Dipper took comfort in knowing the station number.

Dipper yawned, stretching a bit. He looked to his sister and then Bill. Mabel was snoring away peacefully while Bill remained still under his blankets. He looked at the clock next to his bed. The bright digital face read 11:58. Making a split-second decision, he got up and grabbed a small radio. He made sure the volume was low before switching it on and tuning into the station written in the journal. At first, he heard nothing but the soft sound of static. Suddenly, until soft music began to play. A soft soothing voice started talking.

“Hello, you’re listening to 153.9, the only station still capable of broadcasting. I’m your host Yumi, and up next is another segment of our ever-popular dream corner. Tonight’s reading will be a special treat for everyone. Tonight we have a new dreamer never featured before on any station. New dreamers with juicy dreams like these are incredibly rare, as most newborn creatures offer very little in the way of interesting dreams. Tonight will be the second dream this dreamer has ever had. As always, please remember all dreams are not pleasant and this station holds no ownership of the dreams read. Anyone interested in featured dreams are encouraged to contact their respective dreamers. Now then, sit back, relax, and join me in dreaming.

_Darkness. Everywhere is darkness. I see nothing, I feel nothing. I am cradled in an infinite nothingness that I am a part of. It is comforting, familiar. I don’t want to leave this state, I want to dissolve into it and lose any distinction between myself and it. But I feel it, something shifting underneath me in the darkness. It doesn’t want me there, it does not think I belong there. Suddenly I feel myself sinking, as though I’m being slowly pulled down into something heavy and uncomfortable, like quicksand. It’s suffocating, so much so that it begins to crush the air out of me and allows none back in. ‘I can’t breathe, it hurts, I want it to stop, please!’_ _my mind begs. Underneath the desperation I faintly wonder if I’m dying. At the very least it feels like I am._

_Just as it becomes too much to take the heavy nothingness is replaced with the feeling of hard ground against my back. I feel myself coughing as I desperately try to draw air into my throat to my lungs. They burn in pain as I draw it in, the air thin and cold with an oppressive feeling hanging in it. Underneath the immediate pain I can feel the distinctive separation between me and this world, and I do not like it. I open my eyes, confusion and fear mixing into a disgusting mix as I take in my surroundings. I don’t know where I am. I can tell it’s a room typical to a house but that’s it. The walls and floor are made of wood, most of it looking aged and well on its way to rotting. There’s a small triangular window set into one of the walls, and a door opposite from that. Everything is dark, the small window only illuminating the room with a sickly pale light that barely cuts through the darkness. My mind screams at me that I need to get out of here, this place is dangerous_

Dipper could hardly believe what he was hearing. He looked down to where Bill was laying. He was mumbling incoherently, having turned in his sleep. It couldn’t be that this dream being narrated was Bill’s, right? How would that even be possible? He pushed the terrible dread that this was in fact Bill’s dream and continued listening as the woman’s calming voice went on. 

_“Standing up,_ _I tentatively make my way to the door and try to open it. It takes a few tries before it moves, only budging when I forcefully push on it. It opens to a modest hallway with a staircase leading down. I walk over to it and eye the steps. Like everything else they look suspect, seemingly ready to collapse. I really don’t like the odds that it will hold up but there’s no other way down. I stare at it as I try to gather my courage when I hear a sound. It sounds like a cross between a scream and a growl with an echoing aspect to it. Immediately I turn around but there’s nothing there. It comes again, and this time I can discern that it is outside. It makes me have second thoughts about trying to leave, afraid that if I do I’ll run into whatever it is. Its screams are unsettling enough. I go back into the room I woke up in, leaving the door open just a crack. I slowly head to the window. I’m shivering now, the combination of fear and frigid air working hard to assault my body as I peer out the window_ _._

 _Outside looks like death. The sky is a combination of black ashy-looking clouds_ _that blotted_ _out most of the sky and patches of dark blue where the clouds look thinnest. Tucked between some of the thinner clouds,_ _a pale moon hangs above, watching. As I look at It, I_ _feel as though it is a gigantic eye surveying everything below, as if It was_ _searching for something. I can see that I am indeed in a house, a rotted-out porch far below me. Surrounding the house is a barren area that looks like it might have been a lawn at one time, and further back a forest, the trees either dead or having an oddly mutated appearance. The moonlight_ _colors everything in its pale blue-white light, making the world appear wet and slick with some ominous fluid._

 _As my eyes scanned across this scene, some_ _movement in the trees catches my eye. I focus on it, looking for whatever it was. For a moment I see nothing until it appears_ _again. I see a hulking shape move between some trees before disappearing again. I feel the hair on my skin begin to stand, a cold prickle working its way down my spine._ What is that _?_ _I think, as I nervously continue to scan the tree line for the thing but see no further movements. My breathing speeds up, adrenaline beginning to surge through_ _my system. Even up here, far from whatever that thing is, my body is certain I am not safe, and I think I agree with it.  I turn away from_ _the window, while pressing_ _my back to the wall and sliding down to the floor. I curl up into myself, trying to keep the bitter, cold air from stealing any remaining warmth in my body_ _. I feel helpless and scared and I don’t know what to do. This whole situation is hopeless. I can’t leave the house, but I also have a sick feeling that it isn’t safe in here either.”_

Dipper kept his eyes firmly locked on Bill now, all possibility of denial gone now. Bill was whimpering in his sleep now, his eyes moving rapidly under closed lids. Deciding that was enough, Dipper got up and immediately crouched down by Bill, trying to shake him awake. He couldn’t let this nightmare, whatever it was about, continue.

“Bill, come on, wake up!” Dipper whisper-yelled.

The blond simply continued to whimper and tried to twist away from Dipper’s touch. The radio quietly droned on.

 _“I’m broken from my anxious thoughts by an unexpected sound, snapping me to attention. The sound of steps and creaking wood just outside in the hall echo their way into the room. I can hear it approaching, it’s coming this way. My heart is pounding, and I feel a cold sweat begin to form. I look around the room, desperate to find a place to hide, but there’s nothing. My only choices are to face that thing or jump out a window and die. For a moment I seriously consider the window, but I’m quickly robbed of the choice as I hear a creak just outside the room, paralyzing me to the spot. All I can do is stare in abject horror and anticipation at the door. The seconds turn into eternity as another creak comes. A painful silence that feels louder than any noise ever could follows the sound before slowly a shadow forms in between the crack of the door. It creeps in at an agonizingly slow pace, long,_ _spindly fingers with deadly, razor sharp_ _claws slowly emerging_ _from the darkness outside the door._

 _My eyes are wide in an unblinking,_ _horrified stare as this goes on, the pounding of my heart beating loudly in my ears. I’m so, so scared. Just before I see the entire hand it retracts completely back behind the door. The light from the window simultaneously dims, no doubt a result of clouds hiding the moon. The room was_ _plunged into near pitch-black darkness, leaving me barely able to make out anything in front of me. I still can’t move, and it aches. My brain is screaming, screaming to do something anything as the earsplitting silence carries on. Then it happens. The door slowly begins to open without a sound, despite the trouble I had with it earlier. It swings wide open, a gaping void_ _of darkness waiting behind it. I don’t see anything within the gaping maw of darkness_ _as I push hard against the wall, instinctually_ _trying to distance_ _myself from it. My mind is racing, screaming,_ Where is it? WHERE- _._ _”_

Bill bolted upright, nearly headbutting Dipper, and began to scream. It was an unearthly ear-piercing shriek that had Dipper slamming his hands on his ears and Mabel, soundly asleep seconds ago, bolted awake and pointed her grappling hook at the source.

In the background of Bill’s screams and the twins’ shouts the radio host quietly signed off before the soft sound of static took its place.


	12. Reading Between the Tines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally I can't bang out chapters this fast but this one came to me in the course of a day. It took my proof reader more time to do his work than it did for me to write this. But expect long wait times between chapters like usual. I'm so sorry. Also thank you for all comments and kudos. I love you all and hope you continue to enjoy this mess from my mind.  
> For the most part this is a light chapter however:  
> TRIGGER WARNING: Self-harm  
> We all know Bill is a masochist.

Bill sat on the couch wrapped in a blanket. In the aftermath of the nightmare, he was too terrified to even think shutting his eyes, let alone sleeping. Dipper kindly offered to stay awake with him, an offer Bill jumped on. With that decided, Dipper thought they should go downstairs to allow Mabel to get some more sleep. The short walk downstairs was mentally harrowing for Bill; the darkness antagonized his exhausted mind, and every perceived movement an enemy lurking within the shadows. Even after Dipper switched on the lights, Bill still felt overwhelming fear and anxiety.

Once situated, Bill curled up tightly within his blanket, hoping that it would protect him. Dipper sat down next to him. An awkward silence surrounded the two of them as Dipper tried to say something to comfort the distressed blond.

“Do you, uh… Do you want to talk about it?” Dipper asked uncertainly.

Bill shook his head.

“It might make you feel better.” Dipper tried.

Again, Bill shook his head no.

Dipper sighed. He understood how Bill felt. He had had his fair share of nightmares, though his mind couldn’t help but think that Bill had been the source of a lot of them. Still, Bill seemed to be having a very difficult time adjusting to the change. Being thrust into a situation he didn’t really understand with no memories, a massive amount of distrust towards the people around him, and nightmares on top of it all. Dipper couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy for the former demon. He wanted to do something to help ease Bill’s fear but wasn’t sure what to do.

Looking around the room, Dipper noticed some of Mabel’s markers and paper. An idea occurred to him. He got up, grabbed them, and brought them over to Bill.

“Here, try drawing how you feel. That way you don’t have to say anything, but you can get it out.” Dipper said, handing them over.

Bill stared at them tiredly for a moment, unsure what he was supposed to do. Eventually, he picked up a marker and looked at it quizzically. Dipper held back a chuckle at the sight and removed the cap from one of them to demonstrate. Understanding, Bill copied Dipper and put the tip to the paper. He watched as the ink saturated the paper, forming a large black dot. Satisfied, he started to draw.

Dipper decided to join him so that he wouldn’t just be staring at Bill as he worked. He didn’t want to cause Bill extra anxiety as he drew out his feelings. Dipper drew various things he remembered from being out in the woods, thinking about all the adventures he had had this summer. He wondered how things would change now that Bill was around. Would Bill like going out and solving mysteries like he did? Or would he be more like Mabel and enjoy hanging out with friends and doing silly things? Right now, he didn’t seem to express much interest in anything, not that Dipper blamed him. He was sure that it was taking a lot out of Bill to simply function right now. Dipper didn’t understand why, but for some reason he secretly hoped that Bill would be interested in spending time with him. He could really use another friend his age to hang out with. Even if that friend had previously been an omnipotent dream demon bent on conquering the entire universe.

Dipper yawned. He was beginning to feel very tired. He had planned on sleeping after investigating the radio station, so remaining awake longer to help comfort Bill was becoming difficult. Still, he fought against his drowsiness. He told Bill he’d stay up with him and he was going to stay true to his word. The soft sound of markers being dropped to the floor drew his attention back over to Bill. The blond shoved a piece of paper with a drawing at him before curling back up and hugging his knees. Dipper looked at the picture and felt a pang of sadness.

Bill had drawn himself as a small yellow stick figure curled up, surrounded by much better drawings of the Pines’ family without faces and beyond that a black void with glaring red eyes. Above everything was a small yellow triangle, bright against the black void. The entire picture was creepy, but it was the glaring eyes that creeped Dipper out the most. It felt as if the eyes might turn their harsh glare towards him at any moment. It was clear that Bill felt like everyone and everything was out to get him. Dipper frowned. He couldn’t help but think back to when Stan had opened the portal, or when he tried to erase Ford’s mind. He saw the same awful paranoia he had gone through in Bill’s picture.

“You can go back to bed.” Bill muttered beside him.

“No, it’s fine. I’m not that tired.” Dipper said, placing the picture on the end table. His body immediately betrayed him with a yawn.

“It’s fine.” Bill said. “You don’t have to keep sitting here with me.”

“Only if you’ll go back to sleep too.”

Bill shook his head at that.

“I don’t want to ever sleep again.”

“That’s not an option, Bill. You have to get some sleep.” Dipper said, a hint of worry pervading his voice.

“Fine. I’ll try to later. But don’t let me stop you from doing the same.” Bill huffed.

“Bill, it’s fine. I said I’d stay up with you. I thought you wanted me to.” Dipper said, feeling confused.

“I don’t anymore.” Bill whined.

“What? Did I do something?”

“No.” Bill said, his tone suddenly going soft. Dipper couldn’t help but note the conflicted look on his face. “You keep yawning and you’re obviously tired, so, you should sleep.”

Dipper raised an eyebrow at that. He hadn’t expected Bill to have any concern for him. It was an oddly pleasant surprise that caused a warm feeling to rise in his chest.

“Thanks Bill, but I promise I’m ok.”

Bill turned away from Dipper, trying to hide his face. He felt weak for having to rely on Dipper, and seeing the boy yawning and looking sleepy made the feeling worse. He wasn’t supposed to need anyone. And, for some reason, the thought of being a burden to Dipper made him feel upset. Suddenly he had an idea. He abruptly shoved Dipper down onto the couch and threw his blanket over him.

“Bill wha-” Dipper said, his voice muffled by the blanket. Bill quickly cut him off.

“Sleep. If I need you, I’ll wake you up.” Bill said, hoping this would get Dipper to go to sleep.

Dipper peeked out from the edge of the blanket at Bill.

“Are you sure?” He asked one more time.

“Yeah.” Bill said.

“Ok. But you have to wake me up if you need me!” Dipper said between yawns.

“I promise.”

“Alright.” Dipper said, as he laid his head down. Sleep was already beginning to overwhelm him.

“Night Bill.”

~

Bill stared at Dipper for a while, watching as he quickly lapsed into sleep. The quiet sound of Dipper’s breathing and the rise and fall of his chest was calming. Bill focused on him for a long time, trying to give himself some relief from his feelings and thoughts. It had only been a day and he was already tired of existing. He was plagued by strange emotions beyond comprehension, feelings that were unclear, and memories that hung just out of reach.  There was just no end to his misery.

An uncomfortable feeling in his abdomen jolted Bill back to reality. He got up with a groan and made his way to the bathroom. Dipper had explained the feeling to him earlier. He quickly did his business, groaning miserably the entire time, annoyed at how needy his body was. As he went to wash his hands, he looked at himself in the mirror. The lingering feeling of everything being wrong intensified again. He stuck a finger in his mouth and pulled it wide, revealing his teeth.  He took a moment to examine his teeth. They were white and perfectly straight. Bill especially liked the look of his canines, sharp and ready to tear into things. From there, he focused his attention on his eyes, blinking one and then the other. Dark circles had begun to form under his eyes from the lack of sleep.

Once he had finished examining his face, he stared at the mirror for a moment in contemplation Without thinking, he slapped himself as hard as possible. He didn’t know why he did it, but the sharp pain made his eyes go wide, his lips forming a sinister grin. The feeling was exhilarating and made him feel more awake. He did it again, this time to the other side of his face. He giggled for a moment, the shock of slapping himself leaving him feeling giddy. Now this was _interesting_. A mischievous glint entered his eyes as he left the bathroom and headed for the kitchen.

~

The sound of Stan grumbling and groaning as he made his way to the kitchen woke Dipper up that morning. Sitting up, he stretched and took in his surroundings. The living room was bright with morning air, the smell of coffee beginning to permeate the air. Bill, however, was nowhere in sight.

Dipper pushed the blanket back and made his way to the kitchen. Stan sat at the table, coffee in hand, reading the paper. Bill sat across from him, swinging his legs in his chair as though he was full of energy. The dark circles under his eyes seemed to disagree but if Bill was tired he certainly wasn’t showing it.

“Morning, squirt.” greeted Stan, not looking up from his paper.

“Morning.” Dipper greeted back, yawning as he took a seat beside Bill.

“Bill did you ever go back to sleep?” Dipper asked, putting his head down on the table. He was still feeling a bit tired.

“Nope.” Bill said, popping the ‘p’.

“What?!” Dipper exclaimed in surprise. “Bill, you have to sleep!”

“Sure, sure, whatever you say Dipper.” Bill said dismissively with a wave of his hand.

Dipper looked at him in complete shock. He couldn’t figure out how Bill sounded so awake when he never went back to sleep. From his own experience, staying awake all night always made him feel terrible the next day. He stared at the blond as he sat there swinging his legs, when he suddenly noticed something strange. On Bill’s right arm he noticed several groups of small red dots.

“Bill what’s that on your arm?” Dipper asked.

Bill raised his arm and looked at it.

“Oh, these? They’re just the fork marks.”

“WHAT?!” Dipper and Stan both shouted in unison.

Bill looked at them confused as Dipper grabbed his arm. Stan had put aside his paper and coffee and was also inspecting Bill’s arm. Under closer inspection, there were a lot more of the small wounds than Dipper had thought. Bill had stabbed himself repeatedly up and down his arm. Bill began to squirm under their scrutiny, trying to pull his arm away. Dipper hardened his grip, not letting him pull away.

“What’s the big deal?” Bill asked, feeling uneasy.

“’ _What’s the big deal_?’ Seriously kid? Didn’t doing that hurt?” Stan said, looking at Bill in disbelief.

“Bill, doing stuff like this is very bad!” Dipper said.

“Why?”  Bill asked, curiously.  He was confused now.  Why were they getting so upset?  “Kid, it’s not normal to hurt yourself.” Stan said. “Why the heck would you do this?”

Bill looked back and forth between the two frantically. They looked so serious. It was starting to make him feel uncomfortable. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, his mind going utterly blank for a moment. He suddenly didn’t want to answer them. He wanted to get up and go hide, not liking the concerned look in their eyes. When he did it last night, he had had an undeniable rush every time the fork pierced his skin. Why would such a wonderful feeling be considered so bad?

“I don’t know, I found it funny and it made me feel awake.” Bill finally managed, shame dusting his cheeks red.

Stan let out a loud sigh as Dipper let go of Bill’s arm. Bill pulled it protectively to his chest, cradling it with his other arm.

“Bill, you can’t do stuff like this just to avoid sleeping.” Dipper said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He rose to find the first aid kit. “Doing stuff like that is dangerous, you could have really hurt yourself.”

Bill stared at the floor, still confused and conflicted. He still didn’t understand why it was such a bad thing, and honestly, he wanted to do it again. A dark thought intruded into the forefront of his mind, wondering why these FILTHY LIARS even cared if he hurt himself. They were the ones who took his memories away and made his mind a chaotic living hell of confusing thoughts. Shouldn’t they be happy if he did something bad to himself? Or, maybe, they were lying again. Maybe what he did was fine, and they just wanted to take away anything that made him feel good. Yeah, that was probably it.

Dipper returned to Bill’s side with the first aid kit. Opening it, he again took Bill’s arm after a small struggle and began to disinfect the wounds. He felt mild frustration as Bill occasionally giggled or squirmed beside him. He was obviously enjoying the sting of the disinfectant, making Dipper feel like he was just rewarding bad behavior. He quickly bandaged up the wounds, clicking the first aid kit shut, and went to return it to its place in the cabinet. Returning to his seat, they all sat there in awkward silence.

No one knew how to break the silence until it was blessedly interrupted as Mabel came bounding in.

“Grunkle Stan! Can we go to the mall today? Please, please, please, pleeeease!” she begged bouncing with limitless enthusiasm.

“Sure kiddo, get Soos to take you.” Stan grunted, going back to his paper.

“Thank you!!” Mabel shouted happily before turning to Dipper and Bill. Instantly, she noticed Bill’s maimed arm. “Woah, what happened?”

“Stupid kid decided stabbing himself with a fork was a better idea than sleeping.” Stan sneered, Dipper having to hold back a small giggle from the cheekiness of his remark. Bill simply huffed beside him, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Mabel looked at Bill, dumbfounded, but didn’t say anything.

“Why do you want to go to the mall Mabel?” Dipper asked. “I know Bill needs clothes but…”

“Nah, that’s not the only reason.” Mabel said brightly while making herself some cereal. “Did you forget bro-bro? Tomorrow’s our birthday!”

“Oh! I totally forgot.” Dipper said, understanding washing over him. He had completely forgotten about their birthday. He hadn’t even gotten his sister a present yet. Thank god Mabel still remembered. “I’ll go call Soos and ask if he can take us.”

Once Dipper left, Bill quietly asked a question.

“What’s a birthday?”

Mabel looked over her shoulder before smiling widely.

“Why, it’s just the best day of the whole year!” She explained happily. “It’s a day celebrating the day you were born. You get tons of presents, eat cake, and have tons of fun partying with friends. It’s a celebration of you!”

Bill considered her words for a moment.

“Do I have a birthday?” he wondered aloud.

 “To be honest I don’t know.” She admitted. She panicked for a second as a sad expression spread across Bill’s features and he muttered a small ‘oh’ sadly. She quickly continued, “But it’s ok! We can just give you a new one since you don’t know when it is. Don’t worry Bill, we’ll figure out a day together!”

“Ok.” Bill said, doing his best to hide the unhappy feelings plaguing his mind.

~

Soos happily agreed to take the kids to the mall, quickly coming by and picking them up. He had greeted Bill with his usual ‘hey dude’ and tried to pat the boy’s head. He had to pull his hand back sharply as the blond snapped at him, trying to bite his hand.

“Feisty little guy, aren’t ya’.” Soos said, chuckling.

“Bill be nice!” Mabel scolded.

“It’s ok Mabel.” Soos said, smiling with that good-natured smile of his. “I think it’s kinda cute. He’s a lot less scary now.”

“Soos!” Dipper exclaimed, exasperated. He had explained the situation to Soos earlier and told him not to mention anything around Bill about how he used to be. He really hadn’t wanted to mention anything about it at all, knowing that Soos tended to make mistakes without meaning to, but it just hadn’t been an option.

“Oh, sorry dude!” Soos said, fiddling with his hat a little.

“Don’t worry about it, Soos.” Dipper said with a sigh, trying to relax. As always, he knew Soos never meant to do anything wrong on purpose. Besides, it seemed Bill hadn’t noticed the little remark, as he simply glowered at them. “Let’s just go, yeah?”

Bill was quiet during the ride, simply staring out the window and occasionally scratching at his bandaged arm despite Dipper and Mabel telling him not to multiple times. At first, he was a bit excited to leave the shack, though he made sure not to show it. He wasn’t very fond of the aging cabin, the only redeeming thing being that _window_. He shuddered a little when he thought about it, a pleasant feeling bubbling up in his stomach. When they finally arrived at the mall however, he instantly hated it. There were tons of people walking around and the smell of cheap fast food bothered his stomach, making him nauseous.

The twins dragged him all over the place, making him try on clothes, or look at one thing or another. He hated almost everything they picked out for him that wasn’t black, white, yellow, or bright blue, making it that much harder to do shopping for him. It took several hours, but eventually Mabel declared they had gotten enough clothes for Bill and it was time to do shopping for themselves. Bill groaned unhappily, tired of being dragged everywhere.

“You ok dude?” Soos asked. “Want to go sit down for a bit?”

“He’s fine, Soos, he’s just whining.” Dipper said back to them, walking a bit ahead of them as Mabel skipped around at the very front.

“I’m tired, I want to go home.” Bill moaned.

“Come on, dude, let’s go sit by that fountain over there. Go on ahead Dipper, we’ll catch up.” Soos said, putting his hand on Bill’s shoulder and steering him towards the fountain he had pointed out.

“Ok Soos, just don’t get lost please.” Dipper said before running off to catch up with Mabel.

Bill sat down on the edge of the fountain, sighing in relief at finally being off his feet. He hated this whole excursion.

“Wait here dude, I’ll get us something to drink.” Soos said.

Bill watched as the giant man-baby walked off before turning to look down at the water. His reflection stared back at him, looking more tired than ever. He could feel sleep begging for him to give in to it. He reminded himself that that was not an option and started to plan how he could secretly cause some more pain to keep himself awake without anyone noticing. A small _plip_ interrupted his plotting, making him turn his head towards the noise. A kid younger than him was throwing pennies into the fountain, laughing joyfully every time the coins made a little splash and sunk to the bottom.

“Hey, kid, gimme a coin.” Bill demanded, holding out his hand. “I’ll show you something cooler than just throwing them.”

The kid looked at him before smiling and enthusiastically giving him a coin. Once Bill had it in his hand he went to work, using sleight of hand to make it disappear. He didn’t know how he knew how to do it, but it came easily to him. The kid stared in wonder as he showed the coin had magically disappeared.

“Where’d it go?” The kid asked, in wonder.

“Hm…” Bill hummed, making a flourishing motion with his hands before reaching behind the kid’s ear and magically pulling the coin out. “Ah, here it is.”

“Wow!” The kid exclaimed, clapping.

Bill smiled as he gave a little bow.

“Wow dude, you’re really good at that!”

Bill nearly fell into the fountain from how hard he tried jumped out of his skin. Soos had snuck up on him while he was doing his little show. The coin dropped into the water and lazily sunk to the bottom. Bill turned around and glared at Soos angrily.

“Aww, you dropped it.” The kid said, disappointed for a moment. “Oh well, thanks mister!”

The kid ran off quickly, leaving him alone with Soos. Bill stared after him, pouting.

“Sorry dude, I didn’t mean to scare you, I was just really impressed!” Soos said apologetically, offering Bill a can of Pitt Cola.

“Yeah, you should be.” Bill grumbled, taking the soda. The fun he was having was gone now, his good mood ruined.

“Come on dude, don’t be like that. What you did was super cool. You should, like, totally do that tomorrow during Dipper and Mabel’s birthday party.” Soos said, taking a sip of his own drink.

“I don’t want to.” Bill complained.

“Oh, ok dude. No worries. Did you at least get them a present?”

“I don’t know what that is.” Bill said flatly.

“Oh, dude, you gotta get them something!” Soos exclaimed. “It doesn’t have to be anything big, just something you think they’d like.”

“Like what?”

“You could get Dipper a book, and Mabel some jewelry?” Soos offered. “I’ll pay for it, so you can just pick out something.”

Bill was going to protest, but Soos quickly lifted him up, placing the blond on his shoulders and gathering up the shopping bags. Soos started heading towards the accessory shop, ignoring Bill’s repeated demands to let him down. He walked to the shop at a nice, easy pace, trying to unsuccessfully calm Bill down. The angry blond was chewing on his hat with his sharp teeth and growling when they reached the shop and Soos let him down.

“Here we are dude. Go ahead and look around. I’m sure Mabel would like anything you pick out.” Soos said.

Bill looked at the store, annoyance turning into fascination as he gazed at all the shiny jewelry and accessories. He walked slowly through the store, looking at everything carefully. As he walked around, anything gold in color drew extra scrutiny from his judging gaze. While he found them interesting, he didn’t feel drawn to any piece until he saw a black felt choker with a golden triangle set into the middle of the soft fabric. He instantly grabbed it, staring at it intensely.

“Oh, do you like that one?” Soos asked, looking at what he picked. “You sure do like triangles, don’t you dude?”

Bill didn’t say anything, grabbing another two of the same chokers, before shoving them at Soos.

“These, I want these.”

“You want three of them?” Soos asked in confusion.

“One for me, and one for each of them.” Bill said, firmly.

“You sure you don’t want to get something else dude? I mean, not that they’re bad, but don’t you think a book is a better gift for Dipper?” Soos said, scratching the back of his neck.

“NO!” Bill shouted indignantly. “It has to be these!”

“Ok, ok, you don’t have to shout.” Soos said. He hushed Bill a little and took the chokers from him. “Let me go pay for them.”

Once Soos returned, he handed Bill a little bag. Bill looked into it, his eyes twinkling with the luster of the gold jewelry. He hadn’t wanted to get the twins anything and was only doing it because Soos said he had to.  Even so, he was very satisfied with his choice, especially since he got something out of it as well. Pacified with his small spoils, the rest of the shopping trip went smoothly with minimal complaints from Bill. The twins were confused by Bill’s sudden pacification but accepted it, just happy that Bill had stopped making the trip more painful than it had to be. There was only one small lapse when Mabel asked if she could see what Bill had bought.  Bill protectively clutched it to his chest and furiously told her _no_. She was curious but shrugged it off quickly. They were all getting tired and were done with shopping for the most part. It wasn’t long before they all piled back into the car, with shopping bags filling up the free space between them. As they drove home, Bill stared at his shopping bag, eyes shining with excitement.


	13. An innocent embrace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Here's a chapter with a bit of fluff for you to enjoy. As always thanks for reading, kudos, and comments. I started this fanfic for myself but you guys keep me going when I'm down. Love you all.

Dipper sighed as he sunk into the new plush recliner in Ford's study. He was worn out from shopping all day and just wanted to read until he fell asleep. However, his uncle interrupted his brief respite with a request that he join him in a discussion about how things were going with Bill. Of course, Dipper would never refused a request from the man, as he respected him deeply and would follow him to the end of the world if asked. After pawning Bill off onto Mabel, he went down into the basement to join Ford.

Dipper was surprised to see Ford had done some shopping of his own, setting up a makeshift bedroom in the study. Ford explained that he thought it would be better if he stayed out of sight from Bill for a while. To that end, he had cleaned out the study by getting rid of all his old Bill related knickknacks and organizing things. He managed to shove a small bed in a corner and two comfortable recliners with a small coffee table to one side, leaving his old desk still where it used to be. The addition of a minifridge and a coffee maker completed the room, the latter filling the atmosphere with the familiar scent of coffee. Dipper had to admit that it was very welcoming compared to when Ford first brought him here.

“Dipper, would you like some soda or coffee?” Ford asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“Thanks, Great Uncle Ford. Some soda would be nice.” Dipper replied, enjoying how the recliner seemed to suck him in and form around his tired body.

Ford set his coffee down on the table and took a soda from the minifridge.  He set the soda down on the table and slid it over to Dipper.

“Sorry to bother you, Dipper.” Ford said, noticing his nephew was half asleep. “I need to stay up to date on Bill.”

“No need to apologize, Great Uncle Ford,” Dipper said, leaning up to grab and open the soda. “We just went for a long shopping trip today, and Bill has really been a handful.”

“How so?” Ford asked, leaning in as he sipped his coffee.

Dipper proceeded to explain the events of the past day and a half to Ford, who occasionally stopped him to ask a question or two. However, it was Bill’s episode with the window that brought things to a screeching halt. This event bothered Dipper the most, so he saved it for last, knowing that it would equally trouble his uncle.

“He stopped breathing when he saw the stained-glass window of himself?” Ford said, his mind turning quickly.

“Yeah, it was surreal. He just completely froze up and wouldn’t stop staring at it.” Dipper said, frowning down at his soda. He was still extremely bothered by what happened. He had no doubt that Bill had been trying to remember himself, his true self, but to completely stop breathing in the process? That scared him. “I know he was trying to remember who he is, but it was like as soon as he got close his entire body shut down. When he finally snapped out of it, it looked like he had a really bad headache too. It almost happened again today too. I pulled him away before it got worse, but I’m really worried.”

Ford hummed in thought. This was a very troubling development. As it stood now, Bill was still a threat, but not an active one. No doubt before he lost his memories he had made some sort of plan, but for now he was nothing more than a scared kid with a bratty streak. Ford did not relish the thought of how that might change if he remembered.

“Uhm, Great Uncle Ford?” Dipper said hesitantly.

“Yes, Dipper?” Ford said, snapping back to reality.

“Well, there is one more thing…” Dipper said before trailing off for a moment. “It has to do with the new journals.”

“Oh?”

Dipper quickly related what he had discovered from decoding the journals before telling his uncle the frightening nightmare the radio had described. He was concerned with the fact that whatever that station was somehow targeted Bill. Furthermore, he couldn’t help but wonder if the dream was natural or if the station had caused it. To say the least, it was an unsettling thought.

Ford listened intently to his nephew, his curiosity sparking wildly. He pulled out his journal, quickly jotting down the events Dipper described, taking note to write the time and station number. He wanted to investigate this unusual phenomenon as well.

“Would you be willing to lend me the journal you read about it in?” Ford asked, still writing in his own.

“Sure.” Dipper said. “I mean, I still have four other journals to look through.”

“Thanks Dipper.” Ford said, nodding. “If you’ll get it to me later that would be great. For now, off to bed with you. You have a big day tomorrow.”

Dipper smiled and nodded. He was excited for their birthday. After all the weirdness, it was nice to just have a normal day where he could feel like a normal kid.

~

Mabel carefully led Bill to the bedroom, the blond grumbling behind her. She had blindfolded him as a precaution against a repeat of the night before. She and Dipper both agreed that this was the best solution until something more permanent could be worked out. Things would have been so much easier if Bill just listened and didn’t look, but he refused to do anything they asked of him. So, they had to resort to a blindfold.

Mabel pulled Bill to Dipper’s bed, quickly undoing the blindfold.

“There we go. No scary breath-stopping episode.” She said smugly, tossing the cloth aside.

“Is all this really necessary?” Bill asked, laying back on the bed.

“You tell me? Will you stop looking at that window whenever you get near it?”

Bill looked away without answering. He would be lying if he said he wouldn’t; he just couldn’t help himself. It inescapably drew him in when he was near it. It awoke something deep inside him, something that was powerful and refused to be ignored, consequences be damned.

Mabel stared at Bill waiting for an answer, hand on her hip. She sighed after a moment.

“Your silence speaks volumes.” She said, hopping over to her own bed. Waddles quickly joined her, snuggling in close.

Bill eyed the pig for a moment with an unsettling glint in his eyes. He had seen Waddles a few times now, though never really got close to it. Every time he saw it though, dark thoughts and desires swirled through his head. He wondered when Mabel would get bored of the animal so that he could have his own fun with it.

Looking away, Bill moved to get more comfortable, burying himself in Dipper’s pillow and sheets. A strange feeling of relief and familiarity washed over him. He felt himself all but melt into the bed, taking in and letting out a long breath. The bed smelled like Dipper, an odd mix of pine needles and old books. The scent was intoxicating, sending Bill into a hazy state before he even realized it. The bed felt like an old friend, warm and inviting. Sleep began to tug at the corners of his mind, his body desperately wanting to give in. He almost let it take him, the comfort provided by the bed making him feel safe, but the memory of his nightmare and the hellish feelings of fear and pain wouldn’t allow it. He dragged himself up into a sitting position and stared at the ceiling blankly. The desire to stab something into his arm swirled through his tired mind, but he knew that while everyone was awake he wouldn’t be able to. Instead he pinched himself, eliciting a small whimper. This pain was nice, he liked this pain. It was so different from the pain in his dreams.

Mabel looked over to Bill. Once she realized what he was doing she groaned and rolled up her magazine. Waddles gave a grunt as she moved off the bed, displeased to be deprived of his cuddles. Bill was so occupied that he didn’t notice Mabel’s approach, squawking in surprise when she hit him on the head with her rolled up magazine.

“What was that for!?” Bill shouted angrily.

“Oh my god, Bill, you’re like a bug that flies into a wall repeatedly. Stop doing that and just go to sleep!” She exclaimed, swatting at his hand when he started to do it again.

“But I don’t want to!” Bill shouted back, defiance entering his mismatched eyes. “Besides, why do you even care?!”

“Because, Bill, you’re being incredibly stupid. You can get sick or even die if you don’t get enough sleep.” Mabel said, glaring back for a moment before collecting herself and letting her eyes soften. “Look, I know the nightmares you’ve had so far have been scary but avoiding sleeping won’t make them go away. You’ll pass out eventually and probably have even worse dreams.”

Bill curled up defensively, placing his head against his his knees. The defiance drained from his face, his tired eyes now taking on a despondent look. She was probably right, sleep was threatening to claim him any second now.

“You don’t understand.” He said, his voice cracking with audible vulnerability. He hated himself for letting it through, but the dreams were so awful. “It feels like dying. These nightmares feel like death. No, worse. They feel like they’re tearing your very being apart.  And the entire time it’s happening, you’re aware that the nightmares used to be a part of you and now they vehemently hate you. Then they eventually get bored of hurting you and just tosses you to the ground. But then, you realize they’ve thrown you into hell and it isn’t any better than being torn apart.”

Mabel looked at him sympathetically. She rarely had nightmares, as most of her dreams were wild and fun, but Dipper had plenty of them. She knew they took a toll on a person. She just didn’t know if she could do anything to help.

“We could ask Grunkle Ford if he knows any way to make them stop.” She offered.

“I’d rather stab forks in my eyes.” Bill said back flatly, peeking out a little from behind his knees.

 “Then what do you want me to do Bill? Because I’m not letting you hurt yourself.” Mabel groaned. As she thought, inspiration suddenly hit her.  A dangerous idea spurred forth. “I know, how about we make a deal?”

 “A deal?” Bill mumbled, uncurling a bit in curiosity.

“Yeah. You have to go to sleep. Doesn’t matter if you do it on the bed, floor, whatever. Just take a nap.”

“What do I get out of it?” Bill asked. He almost declined immediately but this piqued his interest. The idea of a deal sparked a subtle excitement in him.

“Hmm…” Mabel said, thinking. What could she offer that Bill would be interested in? So far, all she had seen him interested in was causing himself pain and looking at a window. “I’ll, uh, make you some cupcakes. Or anything else you want that doesn’t involve hurting yourself or others.”

Bill frowned. He didn’t know what a cupcake was, but it didn’t sound like something worthy of nightmares. He thought about it for a moment.

“Those book things that you and Dipper are always writing and drawing in, what are they called?” Bill asked.

“Hm? Well mine is a sketchbook, but Dipper has a journal. Why?”

“I want one.” Bill said.

Mabel blinked before laughing.

“Ok Bill, we’ll get you a journal if you go to sleep.” She chuckled, extending her hand.

Bill huffed a little, still not totally satisfied. Regardless, he took her hand and shook on it, his mind cringing from the feeling that something was missing. He still didn’t think it was worth the nightmares, but he wanted to try it and see why Dipper was so obsessed with writing in some dumb book. 

Once they separated, Bill buried himself back in Dipper’s pillow and blankets. His body involuntarily tensed as he laid down, the thought of sleep still frightening. He hugged the pillow, pressing his face into it and took a deep breath. God, the scent it held was so pleasant for him, whisking his mind away to somewhere blissful and calm. It wasn’t long before his body relaxed, and sleep began to coax him into its clutches. He did his best not to fight it, which proved to be a challenging task all on its own.  He took long breaths every time his fears threatened to overwhelm him.  What felt like an eternity passed before he managed to fall asleep.

~

Dipper opened the door and was about to say hello when he was quickly stopped by Mabel. She pointed to his bed where Bill slept. Dipper couldn’t help but be surprised by the sight, a small smile coming to his lips. The blonde was fast asleep, drooling on the pillow that he clung to tightly. Dipper found it oddly adorable.

“How did you manage to get him to go to sleep?” He whispered to Mabel.

“I had to make a deal with him. We have to get him a journal.”

“What? Mabel, you shouldn’t have done that. What if it made him remember something?” Dipper said back, unable to keep himself to a whisper at the surprise. Immediately, he clamped his hand over his mouth, worried he would wake Bill. Luckily, Bill gave no reaction, seemingly dead to the world.

“I know, I know.” Mabel said quietly, trying to soothe her brother. “But other than making him more interested, it didn’t seem to do much. I know you’re worried about what could happen if he remembers, but we can’t just keep walking on eggshells around him. He can tell we’re lying, we’ve got to get him to trust us at least a little bit.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m just really worried.” Dipper said. Lately, he had found Bill to be charming in his own annoying way and was even starting to show some empathy towards him. It made Dipper happy and he didn’t want that to be lost. Looking back to the sleeping blonde he sighed deeply. “I’m happy he got to sleep, but I really wasn’t expecting to have to sleep on the floor.”

“You could just share the bed with him.” Mabel said shrugging.

“What!? Mabel, that’s, I, no.” Dipper sputtered, his face slowly turning red.

“Oooo, someone’s got a crush!” Mabel said excitedly.

“No, I don’t!” Dipper said back, his voice cracking. “It’s not normal for guys to share a bed, Mabel.”

“Your face says otherwise! Besides, I share my bed with Grenda and Candy all the time.” Mabel stated.

“But that’s different!” Dipper said.

“It’s only different if you think of him as more than a friend Dipper.” Mabel cooed. “Besides, you said you were over Wendy, right? Maybe this is a good opportunity.”

“Mabel, you’re trying to set me up with a dream demon for god’s sake.”

“Dipper.” Mabel said sternly.

“Ok, ok, he’s kind of cute, alright?” Dipper finally admitted, blushing even harder. “I mean look at him.”

Cuddled up with a pillow while drooling, Bill couldn’t have looked more innocent and adorable. His expression was peaceful and calm, a big difference from the fear and distrust that his face usually wore. It made it hard to believe that this boy was the same person who tormented them all summer and wanted to destroy the world.

“Yeah, he is pretty cute, isn’t he?” Mabel said, giggling a little. “Come on Dip-dop, just push him out of the middle and you can share. It’s not a big deal.”

“Ugh, it is but I’m too tired to argue.” Dipper groaned.

“Good luck bro-bro. Night!” Mabel said, going back to her bed and snuggling up to Waddles.

Dipper turned out the light and walked over to his bed, his face feeling as though it was on fire. Gently, he placed a hand on Bill and tried to move him over a bit. Bill grumbled in his sleep as he was moved, simply rolling back into his previous spot. Dipper groaned, pushing him again, only to get the same reaction.

“Come on, Bill, it’s my bed.” He muttered.

After a minute of trying, Dipper gave up and shook Bill in an attempt to wake him up. He didn’t really want to wake him up, he knew Bill needed the sleep, but Dipper really didn’t want to sleep on the floor. Once again, he didn’t get the intended reaction. Instead, Bill groaned and released the pillow with one hand and blindly flailed around momentarily with his other hand.  His flailing hand, moments later, found Dipper’s hand. Bill squeezed at it for a second, almost as though confused, before finding the wrist and clamping down tightly. Dipper gasped in surprise as he was suddenly pulled down forcefully onto the bed. Dipper instinctively tried to pull away but the hand around his wrist clamped down even harder until Bill’s grip started to become painful. Dipper quickly stopped trying to pull away, letting his arm go slack against Bill. Sensing he wasn’t pulling anymore the grip loosened and gently tugged a little to pull Dipper’s hand closer to his face. Bill sniffed for a moment, before tucking Dipper’s hand by his face and promptly began to drool on it.

Dipper cringed as saliva pooled on his hand, an unpleasant feeling creeping over his mind. He did his best to move away from Bill’s mouth, successfully managing to get just out of range. Carefully wiping the spit on the sheets, Dipper did his best to get comfortable. Bill didn’t seem to have any intention of letting his hand go. Dipper looked down at Bill, mentally cursing. If he hadn’t known better, he would have guessed that Bill was awake and doing this on purpose. Bill’s slow, soft breathing spoke otherwise though. As he watched, Dipper hadn’t thought it possible to blush any harder than he had been; but somehow, he did. Bill had pulled Dipper into a spooning position and seemed very content, even going as far as wiggling back a bit to get closer to the warmth against his back and neck. Dipper was so relieved the light was already out, feeling as though he would die from embarrassment.  His face felt like it was moments away from bursting into flame. Still self-conscious about the whole ordeal, Dipper let himself fall asleep.

~

Dipper was awakened by the sound of a camera snapping a few hours later. Groggily, he opened his eyes and tried to sit up but couldn’t. There was something heavy on his chest pinning him down. He also felt very warm.

“Morning Diiiiipper.” Mabel sang, choking back fits of laughter as she spoke. In one hand she held a camera. She had been intending to wake her brother up and tell him happy birthday, but the sight before her was too good to pass up.  

Dipper looked down to see what was pinning him down, yelping in shock when he saw Bill cuddling close to him, his head and an arm resting across his chest.

“Bill! Oh my god, wake up!” Dipper shrieked.

“Hehehe, more blackmail material.” Mabel snickered, a huge grin spreading across her face.

Bill groaned a little as Dipper screamed, slowly moving a hand to his eyes and rubbing the sleep from them.

“Why are we shouting?” Bill whined, just barely cracking an eye open. He had been enjoying his rest and had gotten through the night without any nightmares. He felt extremely relaxed and well-rested. It was such a good feeling.

“Bill, get off me!” Dipper shouted again.

Realization slowly washed over Bill as he noticed himself draped over Dipper. He wondered how he had gotten in this position, barely being able to remember what happened last night before passing out. That said he wasn’t truly perturbed by it. Honestly, he was very comfortable and just wanted to go back to sleep. However, Dipper’s shouting and Mabel’s laughing made it clear that wouldn’t happen. Stretching, Bill slowly got himself up off Dipper, allowing him space to get up, and sat cross-legged beside him.

“What’s the matter?” Bill asked, a yawn escaping through his mouth. “Was I heavy or something?”

Dipper sputtered, trying to find some way to respond to him and failing.

“Dipper’s embarrassed because it looked like you two were a couple.” Mabel answered, snickering.

“I don’t get it?” Bill replied with a puzzled expression.

“It means it looked like you two were in loooooove!” Mabel said, dragging out her final word.

“Oh, well, that’s dumb to just assume.” Bill said, shrugging.

“Y-yeah, how could anyone ever think we were dating?” Dipper said, laughing nervously and trying his best to cover up his embarrassment.

Bill looked at Dipper blankly, unsure why he seemed so worked up over this. Sure, it was a bit weird to wake up curled up on someone else, but Bill found he liked it. It had made him feel warm and safe, and he was almost bursting with joy that he hadn’t had any nightmares. If the cost for a good night’s sleep was to fall asleep on Dipper, so be it. As he sleepily scratched at himself, Bill suddenly remembered what today was.

“Oh uh, happy birthday thing?” Bill said, sounding more like he was asking them about the birthday rather than giving them birthday wishes. “The big man-baby guy forced me get your presents.”

“Oh?” Mabel replied. “Thanks Bill!”

“I’m just going to pretend that you didn’t say that you were forced.” Dipper said.

Bill got up and grabbed the small bag from the day before. He pulled out two of the chokers and held them out to the twins, feeling very pleased with himself. As far as he was concerned, his choice was impeccable.

Dipper and Mabel each took one, unsure of what to say as they looked at them for a moment. Mabel didn’t mind as she thought it was cute, but she was also unsure why Bill had gotten one for Dipper. It wasn’t really a gift for a boy. For Dipper, however, the odd gift stirred up disquieting feelings. He had started to trust that Bill wasn’t faking his memory loss.  Even so, it appeared that some core part of him remained, trying hard to claw its way to the surface.

“Thanks, Bill.” Mabel said smiling. “It looks great.”

“I got one for me too, so we can match.” Bill replied, his lips forming a satisfied grin.  But his grin faltered when he looked at Dipper. The brunette was just staring at his gift with an unreadable expression. He felt something in his chest tighten at the blank look. “D-do you not like it?”

Bill’s question snapped Dipper back to reality. He looked up from the gift to see the uncertainty dancing in the blond’s mismatched eyes.

“No, no, it’s not that!” Dipper answered quickly, “I like it, it’s just I don’t like anything tight around my neck. But that’s ok, I’ve got an idea.”

Dipper took the choker from its packaging and carefully wrapped it around his wrist to ensure the triangle was on the outside. Closing the clasp, he tugged a little to make sure it wouldn’t come off. Almost being strangled by Gideon had him left him with a distaste for anything meant to be tight around his neck, but his wrist was still an option. He was slightly weirded out that Bill had unexpectedly gotten him a choker as a gift.  At the same time, he didn’t want to upset Bill. He found it almost charming that Bill had gotten the three of them one each to match.

“There we go.” Dipper said, smiling a little at Bill.

Bill looked at Dipper with an uncertain expression, before finally returning a smile.

Suddenly, Mabel grabbed the two boys by the hand.

“Come on Dorks, let’s get breakfast! We have tons of birthday stuff to do!”

 


	14. Saturday Night Fever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this out. Life and depression make writing difficult sometimes. But to make up for it this is an extra long chapter. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for sticking with me.   
> And remember, 5 letters back.

As the twins dragged Bill through the day, a heavy insecurity settled into his mind. He couldn’t shake the feelings of how he simply didn’t belong there. It started with breakfast when Stan and Ford greeted them by shouting happy birthday as loudly as possible for the twins and presented them with plates stacked high with chocolate chip pancakes. Of course, Bill was also given more than his fair share, but as he heard them all happily chatter about the plans for the day, he felt distant from them. He felt like he was not part of this happy family celebrating a special occasion. He wondered why he was even there to begin with. There were so many holes in the lie of a story he had been told, but he just couldn’t figure out what they were trying to hide from him. He hated it and he desired to make them all feel as miserable as he did over it.  But some emotion unknown to him wouldn’t let him. He knew, however, that he cared what the twins thought of him.  The mere thought of this calmed him down, if only slightly.

Shortly after breakfast, Soos came by and took the three kids to the arcade. Dipper and Mabel were excited, but for Bill it was just another confusing boring activity he didn’t understand. Bill spent a while just watching the others play until Soos encouraged him to try some games out for himself. Bill didn’t really want to, but he also felt some sort of obligation as the man-baby pressed a bunch of quarters into his hand. So, he mindlessly played some games, barely even paying attention and scoring a couple of game overs. He was trapped in his head, feeding quarters into the arcade machines whenever it asked for them, indifferent to everything around him. He was only shaken from his spell when Soos gently shook his shoulder. Jumping under the touch, he looked back at him, glaring.

“What?” He said angrily.

“Woah, dude, didn’t mean to scare ya’. I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to join me, Dipper, and Mabel for some laser tag.” Soos answered, hold his hands up in a pacifying manner.

“Not really.” Bill said, unconsciously fiddling with one of the remaining quarters he pulled from his pocket.

“Ok, that’s fine dude. Do you want to stay here while we go play then?”

Bill’s answer was the same.

“Then what would you like to do, dude?” Soos asked, giving the blond a dopey smile.

“Can I just sit in the car?” Bill asked. He wanted to be left alone. He made the coin disappear and reappear with slight of hand as he nervously continued fiddled with it. The familiar motions were comfortable.

“That’s not very fun, but sure, dude, if that’s what you want.” Soos said, looking a little baffled. Shrugging, he collected the twins and they all loaded into the car, making the short trip to the laser tag place. The three tried one more time to convince Bill to join them but were stiffly denied.

Bill sighed when he was finally alone and sunk back into the seat. He stared silently at the coin he had been playing with, letting his thoughts drift. He had been happy when he woke up today, but the shift in his mood was quickly making him wish the day would just end. He hadn’t really felt like part of the Pines family to begin with.  He always felt distant and left out, even when they invited him to do things. He could not shake his belief that they were all liars with an ulterior motive. He was familiar with his distaste at being lied to, but he found he didn’t like this new feeling of being left out even more. He wanted to scream, to demand answers, and maybe break some things for attention. Though it wasn’t the first time, he felt resentment towards his feelings and he wished he could just rid himself of them. He felt like he had no control over them and he didn’t like how they made him feel small and weak. A part of his mind constantly reminded him that anything aside from amusement, anger, power, and control were bad things that should be avoided or destroyed at all costs. It was difficult to deal with when everyone around him seemed to feel the exact opposite. It was downright infuriating. He wanted to follow his instincts but couldn’t completely. Some cloying emotion he could not comprehend nor get rid of would cause him great anxiety over acting however he wanted to. Sitting there, Bill quietly glared at the coin in his hand, trying hard to will away all these emotions he despised.

Without warning, he felt a prickling sensation start to run through his body. Though it wasn’t painful, Bill was alarmed at the new sensation. He broke his glare on the coin to blink and try to understand what was happening.  As soon as he did, the sensation intensified, and the coin disappeared from between his fingers. The prickling sensation faded away quickly, leaving Bill to process what had just happened. His eyes went wide as he stared at his fingers in confusion.  He quickly looked around where he was seated, thinking perhaps he had dropped the coin. His search turned in a panic as he failed to find it anywhere. As his confusion and rising anxiety started to peak, the prickling came back, though far less intense this time. A coin dropped from above him, lightly hitting the top of his head. Bill slowly reached up and grabbed it. He looked at it, completely confused. What just happened?

Bill wasn’t sure, but he felt a smile spread across his face as he stared at the coin with wide, mismatched eyes. The feeling was exhilarating, like when he had stabbed himself, but better despite lacking the lingering physical sensation. He felt as though he had been pumped full of some amazing drug, and he instantly craved more. It felt like something powerful and great, yet simultaneously comfortable and familiar. It was as if a piece of himself had returned, giving him a heady light feeling of happiness. As he stared giddily at the coin, he suddenly felt as tired as he had been yesterday before going to bed, and his body quickly began to feel heavy. He tried to resist the sensations, fighting the urge to sleep, but black spots slowly began to form in his vision. He felt distressed for only a moment before completely blacking out.

~

Dipper and Mabel quickly scurried through the foggy maze of mattresses, checking around corners and giggling excitedly as they waged laser war. Eventually they tired and decided to hide to catch their breath. They sat down next to each other, grinning happily.

“Too bad Bill didn’t come with us, this is so fun.” Mabel chimed after a moment.

“Yeah.” Dipper said, panting from running so much. “Is it just me or does he seem more irritable today?”

“Bill’s just a grumpy grump.” Mabel replied. “Although… Maybe he’s still upset about not knowing when his birthday is.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess he doesn’t, does he?” Dipper said looking up in thought. “I don’t think that’s it though.”

“Hmm.” Mabel said, hand going to her chin. “He’s only been with us a few days, maybe he still hasn’t adjusted yet.”

Before Dipper could respond, their conversation was interrupted as they heard excited shouts and footsteps approaching their hiding spot, quickly sending them back into action. They played for about another hour before they finally caught back up with Soos and headed back to the car.  As they approached the car, their idle chat changed to calling out to Bill. As they opened the car doors, they saw the blond passed out on the back seat, tears streaming from his eyes.

“Uh…” They exclaimed in unison, in shock.

Dipper pulled himself up onto the seat with Bill and gently tried to shake him awake. A pained look passed over Bill’s sleeping features before it disappeared, and his gold and blue eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Wha-?” Bill mumbled, sounding very out of it.

“Bill, are you okay?” Mabel asked from her spot in the front seat.

“Did you have another bad dream?” Added Dipper.

“I’m… I’m fine.” Bill said drowsily, not completely sure where he was. He reached up to try and rub the sleep from his eyes, becoming confused when he felt something wet trailing down from them. “Why am I leaking?”

“That’s called crying, dude.” Soos stated absent-mindedly, not sure what to do.

“Seriously Bill, are you okay? You need to tell me if it was another nightmare. What happened?” Dipper said, helping Bill sit up. He felt Bill twitch under his touch, but the blond made no move to push him away.

Bill rubbed at his eyes more, trying to get the tears to go away before answering. He noticed he felt dizzy and tired sitting up like this. When he was finally managed to stop his tears, he dazedly answered.

“I don’t remember. I was just sitting here being bored and then I don’t remember anything until you woke me up.”

The three looked at each other with anxious expressions.

“Do you think we should take him to a doctor?” Soos asked.

“What, why?” Bill questioned, doing his best to pay more attention.

“No, it would be better to take him to Ford. We don’t know if this is just a normal human problem or not.” Dipper said.

“What!? No!”

“But he’s terrified of Grunkle Ford. Do you think Old Man McGucket would know anything about things like this?”

“W-who?”

The three continued to worried discuss options amongst themselves, ignoring Bill’s attempts to interject into the conversation. Despite feeling unwell, Bill felt his mounting annoyance begin to bubble over. Crossing his arms and pushing back into the seat to steady himself, he glared at them for a moment in frustration before just screaming as loud as he could. They all instantly went silent as Bill screamed bloody murder. He went on for a few more seconds once they stopped before stopping himself.

“Ok, if you’re all done PRETENDING I’M NOT HERE, what the HELL is going on!?” Bill shouted angrily.

They all collectively cringed at his use of the word hell, before trying to calm down and explain.

“Well it’s just…” Mabel started.

“It’s pretty unusual to just black out.” Soos finished.

“And up until now, you’ve remembered everything you dream about when you fall asleep.” Dipper added.

“Well, I’m fine now, so can we go home already?” Bill growled back. He rubbed at his throat, wondering why it was beginning to feel a bit sore. He didn’t think he had screamed that loudly.

“Yeah. Yeah we can do that.” Soos said, nervously turning away from Bill and buckling himself into the driver’s seat.

As the car started and they began to head back to the shack, it didn’t escape Dipper how Bill scooted away from him and would only look out the window. He continued to worry about the blond, feeling bad that they had probably scared him now. It was just, how do you know what’s okay or normal for a demon turned human? He knew Ford and Stan were only concerned because of the damage Bill could do, and Mabel was just a nice person who cared about everyone. But for Dipper it was different. He had managed to form some small relationship with the demon before he forgot everything. Bill had been something other than evil or selfish to him for once and it left a burning curiosity in Dipper. It made Dipper suspect that Bill wasn’t completely bad, that there was more to his story than any of them knew.

When they arrived home, Bill silently got out and made his way to the house at a slow plodding pace. They all watched with concern, following quietly behind him. The blond made a beeline to the living room couch and fell onto the cushions, eyes already shut. They all stood in the doorway for a moment, exchanging worried looks.

“Bill?” Mabel ventured.

“Go ‘way, ‘m fine.” Bill slurred back, voice muffled by cushions. “Jus’ tired. Go do birthday stuff, I’ll be fine after uh’ nap.”

“Okay, if you’re sure Bill. We’re gonna have a big party later, but don’t be afraid to rest as much as you need.” Mabel said, gently tugging Dipper and Soos out of the room.

Once in the hallway, Mabel turned to her brother and Soos.

“Dipper, would you mind keeping an eye on Bill? Soos and I will finish up the party preparations.”

“Sure, but don’t you think we should tell Uncle Ford?” He asked.

“We can tell him later. As long as Bill doesn’t black out again or start to look any worse, I think it’ll be ok for tonight. He might even feel better after a nap. We’ve had a crazy summer, so just for today let’s have some fun without worrying that the world might end.”

“Yeah, dude, besides Bill said to do more birthday stuff! He wants you guys to have a good birthday too.” Soos said reassuringly.

Dipper wasn’t completely convinced but for now Bill was just resting. It couldn’t hurt to at least wait until he woke up and see how he was feeling then.

“Ok, ok. But if anything happens we have to get Ford.” Dipper conceded, with a nervous smile.

“Of course!” Mabel said, grinning widely. “Don’t worry about a single thing bro-bro. I’ll take care of the party and make sure that Bill is ok and having fun.”

Dipper chuckled at his twin’s enthusiasm. They all went their separate paths once they decided on what to do.  Dipper sat down on the carpet by the couch where Bill was quietly sleeping and began to read his book.

~

Bill was pulled back to consciousness several hours later by the distant sound of music playing in one of the other rooms. He groaned as he sat up, his head still hazy with sleep.

“Oh hey, you’re finally awake. Just in time too. How are you feeling?” Dipper said just below him.

Bill stretched, taking mental stock of himself as he slowly began to feel more awake. He noticed that it was dark outside now and lamented how long he had managed to sleep. He still felt somewhat tired, and his throat still felt scratchy, but the dizziness was gone.    

“Okay I guess?” Bill said after he finished stretching. “Still a little tired.”

“You can go upstairs and rest more if you’d like. I’m gonna go check out the party though. I’m curious what Mabel has planned.” Dipper replied casually as he put down his book and stood up.

“I’ll come with.” Bill said, getting up to follow. He wasn’t in the mood to be alone.

Dipper gave a quick “okay” in reply before heading off to the parlor. The party had only just started, but it was already filling up quickly as people from the town crowded into the room. There was a big pile of presents and gifts for the twins, as well as a snack table with a huge cake in the middle, surrounded by tons of junk food. There was also a small stage that Soos was DJ’ing on, being his usual goofy self and screwing around with the sound board. Dipper excitedly made his way down, heading over to Mabel, while Bill slowly trailed behind him, taking in all the people and things going on around him.

Mabel excitedly greeted the two as they approached, giving her brother a big hug.

“Isn’t this great Dippy!” Mabel shouted happily.

When it came to parties, Dipper had always been a bit shyer than Mabel, but he had to admit it looked like the night was going to be fun.

“Yeah, sis. And this time, without any magical shenanigans.”

“Good! Come on, we have to go up on stage and officially announce that this party started! Don’t wait for us Bill!” Mabel shouted, laughing and dragging her brother along.

“Wai…t…” Bill tried to say as they disappeared into the crowd. He frowned as he was left alone and looked around. He wasn’t sure what he should even be doing. Quietly he just snuck his way over to the snack table and found a nearby chair to sit in. Sitting there, bored, he began to people-watch. As the people danced and talked, he felt distain for all of them. The tiny voice deep in his mind whispered about little things that annoyed him and how it proved he was so much better than them. He wasn’t sure where the thoughts came from, but they filled him with a comfortable confidence and self-assuredness, so he didn’t fight them.

Bill smirked as he silently judged every single person there. As he looked from person to person, one kid caught his eye. The kid was short, fat, and had shockingly white hair done up in a ridiculous style that probably took an entire can of hairspray to hold in place. He looked disgraceful in his weird, overly cutesy baby blue suit. The little gremlin of a kid was hanging out by the presents looking around nervously. Bill narrowed his eyes as he watched. Was the kid trying to steal from the presents? There was no way he was going to let that happen. He had planned on snagging some of Dipper’s gifts if he saw anything he liked, and no little gremlin was going to ruin that. He was just about to stand up and confront the kid when Mabel suddenly ran up to him, blocking his line of sight.

“Bill, stop sitting around and come dance with me!” She shouted as she grabbed his arm.

“Hold on a second.” Bill said, trying to push past her.

He got a brief glimpse of the presents again, but the boy was gone now. It didn’t look as if anything had been taken either. Maybe the kid was just putting a gift of his own? Bill wasn’t sure. He was quickly shaken from his confusion, however, as Mabel once again yanked on his arm and pulled him onto the dance floor. He stood by awkwardly for a moment as Mabel began to dance wildly before she elbowed him. Sighing, he looked around in an attempt to find someone’s dance moves to mimic. He quickly joined in to avoid Mabel’s elbowing, and mimicked the first person he didn’t feel immediately disgusted by. In his mind, he silently complained about how undignified and stupid it was. The people dancing around him lacked any form of grace to their movements. Why was he being forced to join in on this travesty?

Once the song finally ended and people were starting to disperse for a short break, Bill caught sight of Dipper through the crowd near the snack table. His face lit up for a moment, and he considered asking if Dipper wanted to dance. Sure, it was undignified, but maybe with the right person it could be fun. The thought was instantly wiped away, however, as he caught sight of a pair of girls chatting with him. One looked to be around their age and had long blond hair, the other was obviously older and had equally long red hair. Bill’s expression dropped, and a question came unbidden to his lips.

“Who are they?” He said flatly.

“Hm?” Mabel hummed as they moved to the side. “Oh, that’s Wendy and Pacifica. Wendy’s really cool, and Pacifica can be a bit mean sometimes, but she’s actually really nice deep down. You should go over and say hi.”

“Yeah, sure, okay.” Bill said, glaring in their direction.

Mabel raised an eyebrow, sensing a bit of the hostility in Bill’s voice, but shrugged it off. Bill had only hung out with her, Dipper, and Soos, so maybe he was a little jealous to see other people hanging out with her brother. She found it a bit funny. She just giggled a little to herself as she watched him head over to them before going off to find Candy and Grenda.

~

As Bill approached the trio, Pacifica left to go hang out with her other friends, leaving only Wendy for Bill to contend with. This didn’t make the situation much better, considering she was older and bigger than him, but he wouldn’t let that stop him. His first instincts were to scream at the red head and drag Dipper away, but he already knew that wouldn’t accomplish his goals. Instead, he decided he’d just try to coax Dipper away and ignore the older girl as much as possible. He would just play shy. He had been quickly losing his fear of other people… well, except for a particular six fingered freak, but the twins didn’t need to know that. Bill watched the two excitedly chatting with each other for a moment longer before finally deciding to approach.

As Bill advanced towards them, he positioned himself slightly behind Dipper and gently tugged at his shirt. Dipper turned and smiled at the action.

“Oh, hey Bill. Are you have having fun?” Dipper asked. His eyes were bright, and a small happy smile graced his face.

Bill stared for a second, feeling weirdly happy at how happy Dipper looked. He immediately pushed the feeling aside though and shrugged noncommittedly in answer.

“So, this is the infamous Bill.” Wendy said. “Pretty different without his memories huh?”

Bill raised an eyebrow curiously. What did this girl know about him?

“What do you mean?” Bill asked.

““Oh, well, it’s just…” Wendy began, but trailed off, hesitant to continue. Hoping Bill wouldn’t notice, Wendy glanced at Dipper, knowing she had messed up. Dipper returned her glance with a serious stare and did their secret signal carefully so that Bill wouldn’t see. Thinking quickly on her feet, she quickly came up with an excuse. “You used to have us all figured out, and now you don’t even remember our names.”

Bill looked at her blankly as she laughed nervously. Another lie, though this time he felt an element of truth. Why he would know anything about any of these people, let alone ever want to, was beyond him.  But despite this, he was always left with a lingering vague feeling of recognition of his surroundings and the people in it. Mostly he just felt distaste for it all.

“Anyway dude, name’s Wendy. Since things are starting to calm back down, I’ll probably be seeing you around the shack.” She continued, offering her hand in greeting.

Bill stared at her for a moment before switching back to tugging on Dipper’s shirt.

“Come on, Bill, be nice. What wrong?” Dipper asked.

“Nothing. Come dance with me.” Bill said meekly, returning to feigning shyness.

Dipper blushed for a moment, surprised by the request, but quickly pushed the feeling away.

“Oh, sorry Bill, not right now. Wendy and I were planning our last mystery hunt before school starts.”

“We’re gonna try and find this weird cave that might be haunted.” Wendy said excitedly, smiling at Dipper. “It’s gonna be awesome, dude. You should come with.”

“Hey, hey, don’t get too excited.” Dipper replied, chuckling. “We might not even find it.”

Bill glared at the two as they excitedly began to chatter. Why did people constantly act like he wasn’t there? If he was there, they should be talking to _him_. Dark anger began to bubble up inside him, threatening to burst out. He clenched his fist at his side to try and restrain the anger, before asking again.

“Please Dipper? Just one dance.” Bill whined loudly, cutting into the conversation.

Dipper looked at the blond, annoyed now. He was always excited for mystery hunts, and planning was a part of that fun.

“Bill, come on, I said no. If you want to dance so badly you can go dance by yourself.”

“Hey dude, it’s cool. I can wait.” Wendy said.

“No, I was hanging out with you first. Bill needs to learn how to wait.” Dipper said, giving him a very pointed glare.

Bill’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden vitriol, but quickly narrowed as the anger finally started to seep through. How dare Dipper say something like that? As far as Bill was concerned, Dipper should spend all his time with him since he lost his memory. Without Dipper he had nothing connecting him to everything going on around him and could barely even understand most of what went on. It wasn’t fair! Ruminating on these thoughts, Bill finally snapped. Digging his fingernails into the skin of his clenched fist, he let out his own venomous thoughts.

“Well, maybe I would know already if I hadn’t lost ALL OF MY MEMORIES.” Bill shouted. Dipper and Wendy stared at Bill wide-eyed. His voice was so loud that even some of the other party goers turned to see what the commotion was about. “And maybe it would be easier for me if all of you didn’t CONSTANTLY lie to me! You think I can’t tell? You’re all shitty liars! You think I don’t no-ynhj mtb dtz qttp fy rj? Qnpj n’r xtrj kwjfpnxm fsnrfq dtz sjji yt xyzid fsi tgxjwaj. N mfyj jajwd xnslqj qfxy tsj tk dtz! **”**

Shocked faces turned to confusion as Bill’s voice garbled into something completely unintelligible. Even Bill was left confused by how his thoughts and speech didn’t seem to match up.

“Bmfy’x ltnsl ts stb?!” Bill said, trying and failing to say even a single understandable word. Frustration quickly joined his already overwhelming anger at the continued mangled sounds he spoke. “Lwjfy! Ozxy lwjfy! Ymnx nx ozxy bmfy n sjji wnlmy stb!”

“Woah, dude, just take a deep breath and try to speak slowly. Maybe that will help?” Wendy said, remaining cool like always.

Bill threw a glare her way before following her advice, if only so he could get his frustration and anger out verbally.

“N. Mfyj. Dtz. Fqq.” He growled slowly. He nearly screamed in frustration and pulled at his hair when it didn’t work. “Bmd nx ymnx mfuujsnsl?! Bmd nx jajwdymnsl ymfy mfuujsx htsxyfsyqd htskzxnsl?! N hfs’y jajs djqq fy dtz bnymtzy xtrjymnsl ltnsl bwtsl!”

“Bill, you’ve got to calm down! We can figure out what’s wrong together, but you have to calm down!” Dipper said, trying to get a hold of him and stop him from possibly hurting himself. It was proving to be a difficult task as Bill squirmed away from him. Bill backed up until he hit the snack table behind them and let out a low growl.

“Ymnx nx fqq dtzw kfzqy!” Bill screamed, pointing his finger accusingly at Dipper. “Nk dtz btzqi mfaj ozxy xytu kqnwynsl bnym ymnx xyzuni xqzy tk f wji-mjfi fsi ifshji bnym rj stsj tk ymnx btzqi gj mfuujsnsl! N bnxm n htzqi ozxy gzws ymnx bmtqj rnxjwfgqj uqfhj yt ymj lwtzsi!”

As Bill screamed, he suddenly felt a bubbly light-headedness take over and a tingling sensation rush through his entire body. It was a pleasant feeling, though it couldn’t displace his anger and frustration. Just as he said his last word, he felt the sensation intensify into something incapable of description. It was if his confusion, rage, and frustration had all been bundled into a massive lump by the tingling within him. It almost instantly felt unbearable and he felt the urgent need to somehow push the “lump” out from within himself. Without even thinking about it, he instinctually mentally pushed it out and set the table behind him alight in bright cerulean flames.

With the eruption of the bright flames, chaos broke out amongst the party as people screamed and tried to evacuate at the sight of fire. Bill didn’t understand what was happening at first, more focused on the sudden silence he had been plunged into. He felt nauseous and nearly fell to the ground when he tried to take a step. He was only saved by Dipper, who swiftly grabbed hold of Bill and steadied him. He looked at the brunette dizzily, small black spots swimming in his vision. Dipper looked frightened, his eyes darting between Bill and the table behind him. Bill knew Dipper had to be talking, he could see his mouth open and close quickly as he made frantic motions, but he didn’t hear a thing. Bill turned to look behind him and saw the blue flames. He felt an odd heady excitement at the sight, but the feeling was interrupt by another wave of nausea. He tried his best to pull away from Dipper before violently vomiting. He sunk to the floor, barely able to support himself with his hands as more bile rose in his throat to ruin the floor.

Bill continued to heave painfully on his hands and knees, not able to stop even when there was nothing left to come up. Dipper did his best to soothe Bill, rubbing his back gently and trying to help support him. His body shook violently as his throat slowly stopped spasming. Once it stopped Bill lowered himself to the ground and let out a pained whine before promptly passing out.

~

Dipper protectively sat crouched by Bill as the room finally started to clear out completely. Stan ran over to them, extinguisher in hand, and quickly put out the flames.

“What the heck happened?!” He shouted, looking from the destroyed table to the two boys.

 “I, I don’t know!” Dipper exclaimed. “Bill got angry over something stupid and then started talking in gibberish before the table just spontaneously combusted!”

Stan smacked his hand to his face and mumbled an angry question of why Dipper and Ford had to constantly attract trouble.

“Stay here, I’m going to go get my idiot brother.” Stan said curtly.

Dipper had planned on staying by Bill, even if he hadn’t been told to do so. He was still in shock from the sudden turn of events. He didn’t know what to make of any of it, but it was clear that somehow Bill had been able to use his powers. Judging by the confusion and frustration he displayed, Dipper also suspected that he hadn’t done it on purpose. As he thought about the events leading up to it, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Mabel.

“Bro-bro, are you okay?” Mabel asked quietly.

“Yeah. I’m okay. I’m not so sure about Bill though.” Dipper said, brow furrowed. He gingerly put his hand to Bill’s forehead and found that he was burning up. “He was perfectly fine this morning, why is this happening?”

Mabel gave Bill a worried glance before putting on a comforting smile for her brother.

“Don’t worry Dip-dop. It’s probably just more Gravity Falls weirdness. Grunkle Ford will fix him right up I bet!” She said, punching Dipper’s arm lightly. “You should stop worrying so much.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” Dipper said, despite feeling the exact opposite. Maybe if he tried to believe like Mabel did, he could wish Bill better. He didn’t have high hopes, but negativity wasn’t going to improve the situation.

Stan eventually returned with Ford close behind him. He motioned to Bill and told him to take care of it. Ford crouched down by Dipper and asked what happened while he did a quick examination of the blond. As Dipper explained the events to him, Ford tsked to himself and muttered something under his breath. He quickly determined that he needed to do a more thorough examination and picked Bill up. Ford couldn’t help but think how light Bill’s small childish body was, as he carried him to the lab and set him on a table. The demon had fallen a long way from his former self.

Ford quickly set to work with the modest medical equipment he had. Dipper and Mabel stood just off to the side, watched Ford’s every movement and muttered word. The air was filled with tension as Ford finished and turned to the twins.

“Is Bill going to be okay?” Mabel asked before he even said a word.

Ford couldn’t hold back the anxious thoughts and feelings he had as he looked at the twins. They looked at him so expectantly, hoping for good news. Good news that he didn’t have. He took a deep breath before breaking it to them.

“As it stands right now, Bill might not make it to the morning.”

“What?!” The twins shouted in unison.

“I’ll do what I can, but I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like a very aggressive flu, but even the worst flus don’t move this fast. It’s moving faster than his body can fight it off. My best guess is that when Bill managed to channel and use magic it somehow aggravated something he might have already had.” Ford explained. He didn’t like this situation. It caused his paranoia to scream at him that this was Bill, that this was all done on purpose.

“What are we gonna do? There’s got to be some way to fix it!” Mabel said.

“Yeah. Is there maybe something magical that can help Great Uncle Ford?” Dipper said.

“There might be, but it’s too dangerous to go out into the woods this late, kids. Like I said, I’ll do everything I can, but this might be for the best…” Ford said. Immediately he regretted what he said as the twins started at him wide-eyed and shocked. He just hadn’t been able to stop himself. Bill had been and still was the source of so many of their problems. He knew the kids didn’t fully understand, but he had seen with his own eyes what Bill could and would do simply to stem his boredom. A dark part of his heart just wanted the demon now masquerading as a human child to die.

“W-what? What do you mean? Why would you say something like that?” Dipper asked, shock and hurt lacing his voice.

“I’m sorry, I know you two are kind and don’t want anything bad to happen to him. It’s just if he was gone…” Ford ran his fingers nervously through hair as he spoke, struggling to find the right words. He was digging himself deeper, but he just couldn’t help it. He wanted them to try and understand. “If Bill was gone, the contract with Dipper would end, the both of you could go home to your parents, and our universe would just finally be safe from him. You’ve got to understand, I know he looks innocent like this, but Bill is responsible for the genocide of entire universes and people.”

Dipper tried to listen to his uncle as he rambled, but he couldn’t focus as his mind was plunged into cold confusion and pain. The logical half of his mind whispered that his uncle was right, that it would be better if they didn’t try to save Bill. And he knew it was true, he knew that! But…

Dipper blinked back tears as he felt his heart constrict at the thought, feeling disgusted with both himself and his uncle. Yes, Bill was responsible for horrible atrocities. And yes, if Bill got his memories back, he would be just as big of a threat as he was before. But as he was now, it didn’t seem right. Bill was just a confused human now, struggling with no memories and dealing with more emotions than he probably had ever had to before. He didn’t even look comfortable in his own skin. Bill wasn’t completely a demon anymore, and maybe, just maybe, they could keep him this way. It might have been a hopeless wish, but for some reason it was all Dipper wanted.

As Dipper’s heart and mind went to war with each other he vaguely heard the argument that had started between Mabel and Ford. Where Dipper was conflicted, Mabel was not. She fully reflected the feelings of his heart and wasn’t afraid to say how she felt. Unfortunately, she only seemed to provoke her uncle.

“Mabel, have you forgotten what he did to your brother! That _THING_ isn’t a human! He’s a monster! I’ve been trying to kill him for over 30 years now and today nature’s decided to do it for me!” Ford shouted.

Dipper was shaken from his internal conflict by Ford’s harsh words and directed a look that conveyed shock and despair to the man he thought of as his hero.

“H-how can you say that?” Dipper stuttered out.

“Dipper…” Ford pleaded, desperate for his nephew to understand.

Dipper shook his head, refusing to say anything as he took a step backwards away from his uncle.

“Dipper, please, I’m sorry.” Ford tried, stepping forward.

Dipper turned and bolted as Ford took his step, racing to the elevator. Mabel tried to stop him, calling for him to wait, but he didn’t listen. He couldn’t stay there anymore. He felt as though he was suddenly suffocating in that cold, sterile space. The feeling worsened as the elevator rose to the ground floor. He didn’t feel any better as he exited, so he headed to the front door. His pace quickened unconsciously as he moved, and as he went through the front door he was nearly running. As he began to cross the yard, headed towards the forest, he heard shouts coming from behind him, calling for him to come back. He ignored them and pushed himself to run as fast as he possibly could. The shouts faded as he bolted into the woods and delved in deeper, paying little attention to where he was going. He paid no heed to the brush scraping up his legs and didn’t stop even as he tripped and fell about in the darkened forest. He just got up and kept going.

He ran for a long time, only stopping once the pain in his lungs and legs overcame the immense emotional pain he was feeling. He slowed and collapsed against a tree, panting heavily and unable to think. When his breathing slowed down a bit, he looked around at his surroundings before his vision focused on the clearing in front of him. It was the same clearing Bill had taken him to not even a week ago. It felt like that was months ago, despite the short time that had passed. Bright stars filled the sky and looked down on Dipper as he curled up into himself and began to weep.


End file.
